


Prototype

by Ohaymikoto



Series: Mega Man Mixing [2]
Category: Mega Man (Archie Comics), Rockman Megamix | Mega Man Megamix, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: Amputation, Background Character Death, Blood and Injury, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fanboying, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Gifts, Gore, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect, Loneliness, Mild Racism, Mobile Suit Gundam - Freeform, Music, Reunions, Robotics, Ugly Duckling, astro boy - Freeform, feelings of belonging, pulling an all-nighter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:54:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 43,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27227668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohaymikoto/pseuds/Ohaymikoto
Summary: The life of one robot, the lessons he learned and the experiences he had, the good moments and bad moments that would shape Blues Light forever.(Timeline placements:Chapter 1: 2nd of July 1992Chapter 2: 9th of July 1992Chapters 3, 4 & 5: 15th & 16th of July 1992Chapter 6: 21st of July 1992Chapter 7: 23rd of July 1992Chapters 8, 9 & 10: 30th & 31st of July 1992Chapters 11 & 12: 2nd & 3rd of August 1992Chapter 13: 4th of August 1992Chapter 14: 11th of August 1992Chapters 15 & 16: 13th of August 1992Chapter 17: 25th of September 1992Chapter 18: 26th of September 1992)
Series: Mega Man Mixing [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674358
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. Lack of understanding

**Author's Note:**

> Chopin the Cat belongs to me.
> 
> Here we are, the start of Blues' life with his father and cat. Not much else to say than please enjoy and for those of you who’ve read Mega Man Gigamix, particularly the story "asteroid blues", one of the scenes in this chapter will probably feel familiar.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The more Blues learned about humans the less he understood them, they destroy but they also create - would he ever be able to understand them?

It had been roughly two days since Blues Light was activated into this world and the poor boy was already confused over many things, the most prominent confusion was currently coffee. How did one make coffee suitable for human consumption when one could not taste it themself?

"Chopin, why are humans such strange and fragile creatures?"

The young robot asked with an exasperated sigh while reading a book about human biology, he was currently on the chapter that tackled the subject on the human bone structure and so far Blues was very disappointed in how fragile these bones were.

Chopin flicked her ear at the question posed to her but made no other motion to give a answer, she was completely content just laying curled up on Blues' lap. At first the cat had been openly hostile towards her new robotic family member but after a day she’d warmed up to the boy.

"Like, why don’t they have sturdier endoskeleton? According to this book just one misstep could potentially break at least one bone in the leg and severely hurt the ankle permanently. That’s not beneficial to anyone."

Blues sighed in confusion and put his bookmark into the book then closed it, he now had a rough idea over just how fragile humans were but on the other hand he’d also seen on the television how some humans liked to do death defying stunts and tricks.

If humans knew how fragile they are then why did they constantly seek ways to barely scrape by not getting severely injured?

"Do humans like pain? Do they find pleasure in harming their fragile bodies?"

Blues asked out into the air, absentmindedly he stroked Chopin's fur and she purred pleasantly in his lap. The robot couldn’t find rhyme or reason behind such self endangerment, the more he read about humans the less he understood about them.

"Does dad like that sort of thing too? He doesn’t seem the type..."

Even picturing his father doing those sort of death defying jumps on rooftops felt so wrong, but his father was a human being as well so maybe...?

Blues shook his head, no, there was no way. The robot gently ushered Chopin from his lap then stood up from the living room couch with book in hand, in his mind swirled many questions regarding humans and their strange nature, Blues placed the book back in the nearby bookshelf and sighed.

Asking his dad would yield the quickest answers.

"Chopin, I’m going to see dad, you wanna come with?"

The cat yawned and stretched her back then jumped off of the couch, she seemed to have understood what Blues was asking her despite the obvious language barrier, in fluid movement she began to paw her way out of the living room with Blues trailing behind her with a small smile on his face.

If only he could speak her language, oh the things they could talk about and the things she could tell him. He had seen this intelligence in her eyes whenever he spoke to her, it was a different form of intelligence from what Dr Light displayed, she seemed to understand his plight regarding humanity.

Blues was brought out of his train of thought when Chopin approached the closed lab doors and whined softly in tune to this...strange sound coming from inside. It was unlike anything Blues had heard in the past two days of being alive, he’d heard the bleeps and bloops of computers, the ticks and tocks of clocks, the groaning and squeaking of the house but not this...

Blues slowly entered his key code into the nearby terminal and the sound grow louder and clearer once the doors opened up, Chopin slithered inside without hesitation while the robot boy lingered by the entrance.

Dr Light sat by his desk next to a strange contraption that was spewing out the strange noises, Chopin jumped into his lap gracefully and curled up contently, Dr Light glanced up from his paperwork and saw his son fidgeting by entrance to the lab.

"Blues, something bothering you son?"

Blues glanced at the strange contraption as he entered the lab fully, Dr Light looked at it as well and realization dawned on him then he smiled softly and beckoned his son over.

"Dad, what is this noise?"

Blues quirked a brow at the flat disc that spun on the rectangular bottom of the contraption, on top of the disc was a long handle with a sharp tip at the bottom that was treading along the surface of the disc, from the rectangular box sprouted out a yellow horn like thing from which the noise originated.

"This Blues, is music. Music is a collection of sounds that one person or more string together into symphonies that are pleasant for the human ear to listen to, music come in various styles and genres."

Blues listened to the music and was now in awe, the noise did mash together well and he could almost register an emotion hidden in the rhythm. It was a feeling of melancholy and sadness.

"It sounds...sad, dad why is the music sad?"

Dr Light fondly patted Blues on the back as the music kept going, the old scientist was quite fascinated with his son’s first response and understanding of music. Blues' A.I was truly a marvel that kept surprising him every day, his son was truly like a growing child.

"This particular genre of music is often used to convey the feelings of sadness but also happiness, this genre is called blues. I named you after it."

Blues raised his brows in surprise, this sad music shared a name with him? The robot boy was uncertain if the name truly suited him in that case, he did not feel any particular sadness or melancholy.

"I’ve loved music ever since I was a little boy, music can convey what words cannot and breach all boundaries of language. Blues is one of my favorite genres of music along with rock 'n' roll, while classical music pieces of composers like Frédéric Chopin have always held a special place in my heart."

Dr Light gently scratched behind Chopin's ear when he spoke of her namesake, Blues listened with deep intrigue as his dad spoke further about the world of music and symphonies. He’d have to do more research about it later.

"Dad...how can humans create such amazing things like music when they also seem transfixed upon hating and destroying one another? The history books I’ve poured over have told me of nothing but hate and violence but this music...it’s so beautiful and gentle."

The smile on Dr Light's face turned into a somber frown as Blues unloaded all of his confusion regarding the dualities of human nature, Blues rubbed the back of his neck like he’d seen his dad do many times before.

"I’ve lived my whole life as a human and even I haven’t got answers to such questions, I know as much as you do."

Blues frowned deeply, if a genuine human being couldn’t understand the nature of the human race then what hope was there for him to understand?

"And why do humans like to harm themselves? They know their bodies are fragile yet they still seek out death."

Dr Light chuckled humorously at this and again patted his son on the back, now this he could answer a bit better.

"They love the adrenaline, it’s a chemical our brains pump out when we are in danger that help us in escaping said danger, it’s quite a drug for some and that’s why they seek it out."

The confusion on Blues face was rather funny to see but Dr Light chose to not laugh, he understood why his son had so many questions when it came to humans. For as humanlike and lifelike Blues was, Blues was still just a robot when one got down to it.

"Dad, humans make no sense."

At this Dr Light couldn’t help but laugh in agreement, the gramophone skipped a little as it switched from the sad music track and then began to play a more upbeat tune.


	2. Outsider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blues began to feel like an outsider when he walked outside of his home, he’s left to ponder where he belongs. Could the sudden arrival of an envelope from the post office give him a answer?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chopin the Cat and the other original character in this chapter belong to me.

Blues whistled to himself as he sorted through the mail, it was a tune he’d been working on ever since he’d been introduced to music a few days back, mostly advertisements and bills but one envelope stood out from the rest.

It was addressed to his dad and it was from their local post office.

Blues quirked a brow at this envelope, he did not remember his dad ever mentioning that he was expecting a package. Nonetheless the robot boy set all the other mail aside on the kitchen table and left the kitchen with the envelope in hand - casting a glare at the coffeemaker before leaving.

Blues still had not figured out how to make good coffee, but on the bright side, he had learned how to fold clothes properly.

Turning a sharp left as he exited the kitchen Blues walked past the staircase leading up towards the second floor of the house and made his way into the back of the house where his father’s lab was, inputting his key code without much thought Blues entered the lab.

This time the ever present gramophone spewed out smooth jazz music.

"Dad, there’s a letter from the post office to you."

Dr Light sat by his desk hunched over a few rolls of blueprints, his brow had been furrowed and a troubled expression had danced upon his aged face until Blues' voice had rang through the music, looking up from the papers a relieved smile slid onto the human's face as he spun his chair away from whatever it was that was troubling him.

Blues held out the envelope for his dad to take while craning his neck slightly to try and catch a glimpse of what Dr Light was doing, were those his blueprint? And what was a Sniper Joe?

"I see...that’s wonderful, son I’m a bit busy with work right now but could you go and fetch the package for me?"

Dr Light asked after examining the letter carefully, Blues snapped his attention back to his dad and cast his curiosities aside. Blues nodded in affirmation, he’d finished all of his chores for today so getting this opportunity to be outside sounded lovely.

"I’ll be back in time for lunch!"

Blues yelled over his shoulder as he exited the lab and leaving Dr Light alone to once more stare at the blueprints with a troubled frown.

The robot boy shielded his eyes from the bright sun in the cloudless blue sky, Blues liked home just fine but being outside felt so much more pleasant, a few birds flew overhead as he locked the front gate behind him and began walking down the street of his neighborhood.

Despite the pleasant weather there was a lack of human activity in his neighborhood, Blues chalked that up to the heat, though he did spot a few humans in the small park. Small humans, children, playing with each other at the little playground while the adults, parents, either played along with their little ones or sat by the park benches and watched over them from afar.

Blues passed them by with a pleasant greeting on his lips, most ignored him while a few greeted him back with equal pleasantness. His hazel eyes glimmered in the sunlight as he watched the humans in the park, in their eyes he was just any other kid, when he walked out of the park he was just any other human in their eyes.

It hadn’t bothered him the first few days but now it began occupying his mind more and more as he did more errands outside the walls of his home, he knew he looked completely human but he also knew he wasn’t human - he knew he was a robot but he also wasn’t like any other robot that currently existed - he was...an outsider?

Blues frowned slightly as he rounded a street corner and came onto the sidewalk that led to the post office, cars and humans passed him by in a blur as he walked fully caught up in his own thought. An outsider was a person who did not belong in a particular group and/or place, an outsider was a person who looked upon a world they didn’t belong to, did that describe him?

Blues was so caught up in his musings that he walked right into the front door of the post office, on reflex he rubbed his nose despite there not being any bruising and opened the door. The robot boy really hoped no one saw that embarrassing collision.

The post office was rather empty save for the working staff and a few handfuls of humans who were there for the same reason he was, getting Dr Light's package was no problem and he did earn a kind compliment for 'helping his old father' as the postal woman had said - Blues refused to admit that he’d blushed slightly at her words.

Getting compliments from those who were not his dad felt strange but not unwelcome.

Blues quickly left the post office with the package clutched in his hands, it wasn’t until he was a good bit away before his curiosity regarding the package peaked and he stopped to inspect it.

The package was a standard cardboard box used for mailing objects, it had a slight weight to it so Blues assumed there was either a heavy book or a lot of smaller items inside, the paper glued onto it stated that it came from Minnesota in the United States and the sender was a person named Hedwig Light.

"Light...?"

Was this person, a woman possibly, related to his dad? Was Light a common surname in the States? Blues grew even more curious now at what was inside and who this Hedwig was so he opted to jog all the way home, his musings from before pushed into the backseat of his mind for now.

Chopin who was contently jumping around on the stairs was startled when Blues suddenly entered the house, she watched him curiously when he passed her by and gracefully jumped onto his shoulder. Blues gently stroked her furry cheek then entered the lab once more.

The gramophone was playing a piano symphony now, Mozart, if Blues was correct.

"Dad, who’s Hedwig?"

Dr Light perked up at his son’s sudden entrance and sudden question, the blueprints were gone from the desk and had instead been replaced by books of different kinds regarding topics like metals and firearms, the scientist took the package Blues held out and studied the paper on it then smiled warmly.

"Ah yes...Hedwig Light is my mother."

Taken aback by this new piece of information Blues' hazel eyes widened, Dr Light was his dad and if Hedwig was Dr Light's mother then to him she was...his grandmother. Dr Light opened up the package from his mother carefully and took out a bundle wrapped up in newspaper with a letter taped onto it, the scientist looked at the letter and chuckled.

"This is for you my boy."

Blues blinked dumbly then pointed at himself for extra confirmation, Dr Light nodded with a humored laugh, then he took the wrapped bundle and unfolded the letter.

_Dearest Blues,_

_Tommy told me about your birth a day after you’d been born and I could almost not believe what he was saying! You’re a true marvel for sure and I do hope my son brings you over to see me soon, it’s not every day you get a robotic grandchild and I have so many stories about your father that I just know you’d get a good laugh out of!_

_Many kisses from your granny, Hedwig Light._

_Ps. I hope you like yellow._

Blues read the letter from his granny twice and then thrice, this woman who’d never met him before and who had only known about his existence for a few days had already embraced him as her grandchild but was also referring to as him as dearest and sending kisses? Blues locked eyes with his dad to see if this was for real but he only saw the warm smile on his dad's face and the genuine love in his eyes.

Dr Light must’ve inherited his quirks from his mother.

Chopin felt how Blues trembled from the overwhelming love and gently licked his cheek, Blues lightly nuzzled his cheek into her warm fur as he unwrapped the bundle from his granny. Unfurling in his hands was a vibrant yellow but simple scarf, the fabric was warm but soft in his fingers.

"My mother does love to knit for her grandchildren."

Dr Light commented softly when he rose from his chair, carefully he set the package aside for further inspection later since there were items for him in there as well, he walked over to his stunned son and gently took the scarf from his hands. Chopin jumped onto the floor when the scarf was snugly wrapped around Blues' neck and diligently she followed when the robot boy was shown to the nearest mirror.

"It looks good on you son."

Blues stared at his reflection in silence, the yellow scarf a new but comforting weight around his neck, his fingers gently touched the fabric and it still felt so warm to the touch.

He’d mused before about possibly being an outsider, feeling like he didn’t belong and that he was watching the world around him from a distance, around other humans and outside of this loving home he had been activated in he certainly felt that way. A lone outsider amongst both humans and robots.

A smile graced his lips.

He might not belong out there but here in this home with his dad and Chopin he did belong, in the Light family he did belong, he was no outsider here.

Dr Light stepped away from Blues to fetch his camera, this was a precious moment he must not lose. With Camera in hand he returned and clicked it on as Blues turned towards him still wearing that smile, with a snap the photo was taken.

This precious moment would be remembered forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blues gets his iconic yellow scarf and it’s filled with love.
> 
> Like mother like son, am I right?


	3. A being like me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being one of a kind was not as fun as the novelty made it sound, it was rather lonely actually - thankfully there was a solution to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chopin the Cat belongs to me while the story of The Ugly Duckling belongs to Hans Christian Anderson and not me.

"Dad, why does the coffeemaker hate me?"

It was a lovely afternoon at the Light house when Blues asked this question, Dr Light smirked gently at his son who was still glaring at the offending appliance in question. Blues somehow had managed to set the coffeemaker on fire during this day’s attempt at coffee, how he’d managed it still baffled the scientist even hours later.

"I don’t believe the coffeemaker is sentient enough to bear a grudge against you my boy."

Blues kept grumbling under his breath anyway while sipping on his E-tank, his hazel eyes in a half lidded glare, with his other hand stroking Chopin's ginger fur. She purred pleasantly on his lap and leaned into his touch.

Dr Light snorted at his son’s persistence in hating the coffeemaker but chose to return to his meal, the scientist had insisted on cooking his own food once he learnt the hard way that Blues had no idea on how to properly cook things - the boy was improving slowly but Dr Light did not want to risk being food poisoned again - not that he blamed his boy for that.

Even advanced AI had its limitations and lacking the ability to actually eat food certainly didn’t help.

Dr Light chewed a piece of salmon on his mouth then turned his attention back to the TV, in his medium sized kitchen Dr Light had his TV placed near the dinner table in order to watch and eat at the same time - a habit he’d picked up from his own father.

Blues glanced over at the TV as well once he’d had enough of glaring at the coffeemaker, the screen was currently displaying commercials of different kinds and the robot boy didn’t particularly register them until his attention was caught by one special commercial.

The commercial showed a mother smiling at her baby who was laughing while learning to walk, apparently it was a commercial for diapers.

"Dad...how do humans make babies?"

Dr Light nearly choked when Blues' question had been voiced, his startled reaction startled Chopin as well who jumped up from her curled up state in Blues' lap, the scientist coughed a few times before looking at his son who bore a look of pure curiosity.

"I’ve seen adult humans with baby humans, parents and their children, but how are the baby humans made?"

The awkwardness in the air was so thick Dr Light could’ve probably reached out and touched it if he’d felt like it while Blues remained oblivious to it, the scientist scratched the back of his neck nervously and licked his dry lips before speaking.

"Well...a man and a woman provide two strings of DNA each in order to form the DNA that will eventually grow into their baby."

Blues raised a brow at this description, it felt like his dad was not telling him the whole truth but he also knew pressing the matter would be pointless, and hummed quietly. Dr Light averted his gaze back towards the TV and resumed chewing his food.

Nothing more was said about the matter but Blues kept thinking about it.

Even as night feel upon their home and Dr Light went off to sleep he couldn’t shake the concept, humans created more humans. But why? Why did they do that?

Blues laid in his bed and stared up into the ceiling, his yellow scarf laid neatly folded on the bedside table, it did annoy him somewhat that his mind often got hung up on these types of questions. Asking his dad now would be rude since Dr Light was probably asleep by now.

Lazily Blues glanced towards the bookshelf on the opposite wall of his room, it was sparsely filled with different kinds of books and even with a few notebooks of his own where he jotted down things he’d learned or was curious over, maybe reading a book would take his mind off of this question?

Silently he tiptoed over to the bookshelf and scanned through the few titles he had available at the moment, Charles Dickens...Jane Austen...Hans Christian Anderson? Maybe a fairytale would be a leisurely distraction? Blues carefully pulled out a thin book by Anderson titled _The Ugly Duckling_ and laid back down in bed.

The robot boy opened up the book and turned on his night vision, the green tinted pages told the story of a little duckling who did not fit in with the other ducks.

'Kinda like me.'

Blues thought, the little duckling got ridiculed for his vastly different appearance and he cried as he floated away from the other ducks.

'Poor thing...'

The little duckling's cries eventually reached another group of ducks but these ducks...they looked just like him! The duckling was no duck, he was a swan and the other swans happily embraced him.

Blues closed the book and tightly held it to his chest, the little duckling had eventually found those who were like him and found his true home - why did this little fairytale cut so deep into Blues' core?

"Because...I’m like the ugly duckling?"

The parallels were there if he searched for them, the little duckling was a swan amongst ducks and he was a robot amongst humans, however where the little duckling could find others of his kind Blues could not.

Blues was a one of a kind robot, a true marvel in the field of robotics and a testament to the brilliant genius that was Dr Light, there were no other robots like him anywhere in the world.

Blues suddenly felt a wave of loneliness wash over him, holding up the palm of his hand to see it tremble he realized one important thing: being one of a kind was a novelty and a lonely existence. Sure, he had his dad, Chopin and recently his granny as well but they were all humans and a cat.

Was this why humans made more humans? Because they felt lonely?

Suddenly an idea sparked in Blues' mind, why not do what the humans do and make another robot like him? A hopeful smile spread across Blues' face and he quietly sprang up from bed, silently he returned the book into his bookshelf, then he left his bedroom and tiptoed past Dr Light's bedroom where soft snores could be heard.

Blues made his way downstairs and approached the locked doors of the lab, the keypad glowed in the dark while Blues input his key code excitedly. The keypad beeped and the doors slid open, Blues was about to enter when something warm and furry brushed across his leg.

The robot boy nearly had his core jump out of him when he saw Chopin staring up at him, her green eyes glowed in the dark like a pair of small lights, her gaze held both curiosity but also what looked like a silent reprimand.

Blues recovered from his shocked state after a little while and laughed quietly to himself somewhat embarrassed over being that startled by a cat, with an uneasy smile Blues crouched down to allow Chopin to jump onto his shoulder.

Swift she did just that and began to rub her head against his cheek, Blues straightened back up again and entered the lab while scratching Chopin under her chin which always made her purr. The lab lit up automatically once the lab doors slid shut.

"Sorry if I woke you Chopin, but I’ve got a brilliant idea."

Chopin tilted her head in confusion while Blues rummaged around for pen and paper, the robot boy wondered if he was being selfish. He had a loving family already, but he couldn’t stand the loneliness.

"You see, I’m going to build another robot like me."

Blues spread out papers onto Dr Light's desk then sat down in his father’s chair, Chopin jumped onto the desk and laid down to watch Blues draw, holding a pencil tightly in hand Blues began to draw with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Dr Light, having the talk with your robot son so soon after he was made must not be fun.
> 
> The scene with the book was inspired by a similar scene in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch.


	4. Hands that can create life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blues pulls an all-nighter and creates something for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chopin the Cat belongs to me.
> 
> I won’t lie, this chapter is absolutely drowning in my own silly headcanons.

Hours had passed Blues by since he had made his proud declaration to Chopin, the cat now slept peacefully in Dr Light's desk chair after watching his progress, balls of crumpled sketches laid on the floor scattered about carelessly and a few E-tanks littered on Dr Light's desk either half empty or empty.

Blues had gotten utterly consumed with his work.

A finished sketch took half an hour and gathering the necessary materials took a solid hour - midnight had fallen by the time Blues had finished all the preparations - thankfully the lab was somewhat sound proofed so all the noise did not escape out. Blues left the lab a few times to grab fuel for himself, working this intensely apparently burned fuel quickly.

The design he’d chosen was not humanoid but still very friendly looking and the chosen color of green radiated a comforting aura in Blues' own opinion, a name still alluded him though, and like his dad he worked with music playing in the background.

Blues was welding parts of the leg plating together while a woman sang in the background, her voice had a musical tone to it and according to his research that was because her voice was auto tuned, most of the robotic body was assembled and all the wires had been woven along the metallic endoskeleton. All that this robot now lacked was armor and external details.

All of this had taken Blues fourteen solid hours of building and assembly, he still needed to do the personality programming and other such functions, morning had already graced the home by the time Blues stepped back and gazed upon his creation proudly.

The robot had a round torso with a hatch on the stomach and a handle to open said hatch, the upper part of the torso was green while the lower part yellow, on the hatch further up were two red orb gems. The robot's shoulders were a pair of yellow ball joints with a red triangle on each and tube like arms stretched down to green wrist armor then lastly white hands, the legs were the same tube design in the same grey color that stretched down to green ankle armor that ended in white feet. The head was round and green with a few yellow details, two bolts were screwed into the sides of the head in the likeness of ears and a pair of thick black eyebrows loomed over a pair of red circular eyes, a white underbite extended out as a mouth.

"And dad said building me had taken him months."

Blues did not want to brag or anything but he sure did feel accomplished, he couldn’t wait to see his dad's reaction once he woke up - glancing at the clock Blues saw that it was 09:42 AM.

Chopin yawned from her sleep and stretched pleasantly before jumping onto the floor, curiously she pawed over to the newly finished robot and rubbed her head against the leg, Blues smiled down at her curiosity then sat down in Dr Light's chair and started up the computer.

Blues rolled his eyes when he saw what a disorganized mess his dad had on his desktop.

"Might as well change my function from being his son to being his maid..."

Blues muttered in mild exasperation at his dad's persistent trait of keeping things disorganized, regardless of that he did eventually find the right program for creating the personality program and among other basics.

**DESIGNATED SERIAL NUMBER?**

Blues tapped his chin thoughtfully while staring at the waiting box on the computer screen, his own serial number was DLN-000 which stood for Doctor Light Number 000 and that was because his dad had made him but this robot was made by Blues so DLN-001 would not be appropriate. Slowly with some uncertainty the robot boy input a serial number.

**DESIGNATED SERIAL NUMBER: BLN-000**

Blues glanced back at the green robot he’d built, Chopin was now climbing it’s body like a giant cat tower, he was Dr Light's son because Dr Light had built him so wouldn’t that same logic apply to this robot? This robot was his child, right?

**DESIGNATED NAME: AUTO LIGHT**

This time Blues did not hesitate, Auto would be a member of his family so of course he would bear the Light name.

**DESIGNATED PRONOUNS: HE/HIM**

**DESIGNATED PERSONALITY TRAITS?**

Blues felt the weight of this simple question, a personality was a very important thing and was what made one unique next to everyone else who bore their own unique personalities so choosing a personality for someone else felt a little wrong. Blues sighed, he would have to implement some learning programs later so Auto could develop further than these basic traits.

**DESIGNATED PERSONALITY TRAITS: CURIOUS, CREATIVE, HELPFUL, KIND, CALM, JOKESTER...**

**DESIGNATED MENTAL AGE: LATE TEENS - YOUNG ADULT**

**DESIGNATED FUNCTION: LAB ASSISTANT, MECHANIC**

Blues knew these inputs were rather barebones but that left room for personal growth, just like how Dr Light had made him, carefully he grabbed a few cables plugged into the computer and went over to Auto to plug the other ends of the cables into the inside of his hatch.

The computer beeped once the program containing the details Blues had input began to transfer over to Auto's computer brain unit, his CBU, Chopin jumped from Auto's shoulder over to Blues' shoulder and seemed intrigued by what was happening.

"Chopin, do you think he’ll wake up like he should?"

Blues felt his core flutter in nervousness and he ran a hand through his auburn hair to try smoothing it out a bit, the cat rubbed her nose against his right ear comforting and that settled some of his nerves. The computer beeped again once the process quickly finished.

Strange, Dr Light had claimed it took hours before Blues woke...eh never mind.

Auto's red eyes flickered from a dull red to a lit up red color a few times before they settled on lit up and his body creaked loudly as his arms twitched to life, in a stuttering motion Auto sprung to life and twisted his head slowly to take in the messy room around him.

Blues felt excitement bubble in his core to see his creation, his own son, sparking with life. Was this what his dad had felt when he had woken up that night last month?

"Hello?"

Auto finally looked directly at Blues and his red eyes flickered, that must be how he blinks, then his eyebrows shot up energetically in what Blues assumed was recognition.

"Pops?"

The robot boy chuckled sheepishly at being called pops, it made him feel a little old but happy nonetheless, then enveloped his son in a tight hug despite his arms not being able to encircle Auto's round body. Auto's overbite quirked up into what looked like a smile and hugged Blues back while Chopin climbed around on them both.

"My name is Blues Light and I’m so happy to meet you."

**************

Dr Light blinked groggily as the sunlight stung his eyes through his cream colored curtains and he rolled around in his bedcovers for a bit before giving up and sitting up with a lazy yawn, glancing at his digital alarm clock Dr Light saw that it was already 10:37 AM, today was Sunday the one day the old scientist allowed himself to sleep in as much as he wanted.

Still in a sleepy haze Dr Light shuffled out of bed and went over to his wardrobe to pull out his light blue bathrobe, the haze began to clear up once Dr Light peeked into Blues' room to find no sign of his son nor of Chopin. Blues must’ve woken up earlier then, Dr Light shrugged and made his way downstairs to hear the familiar sound of his gramophone skipping and looked down the hallway to see the doors of his lab wide open.

A sudden feeling of unease gripped his heart and Dr Light briskly enter his lab to find an absolutely horrid sight.

Balls of paper laid scattered across the floor and his computer was displaying his desktop image, a few cables trailed from his computer down to the floor then reached all the way to the lab table where they laid unceremoniously on the floor, on his desk laid welding tools and screwdrivers of different kinds alongside bolts and pieces of metal. Dr Light's shaky gaze flicked across the entire mess until he gazed down to his right to see his trashcan stuffed with E-tanks.

Many paranoid thoughts swam around in his head, had a burglar gotten inside to search for valuables? Did he have an enemy that wanted to steal his research? And where was...where was Blues!?

"No...no no no...!"

Dr Light's heart skipped faster in fear once the absolute worst possibility crawled into his frazzled brain, had someone broken into his home and kidnapped his son?!

_*thump*_

A noise further out in his home startled Dr Light and he quickly rushed out of his lab, that sound was unmistakably the sound of his patio doors being opened and closed, passing the staircase once more Dr Light entered the living area of the front of the house which was the kitchen and the living room being one whole open space with the front door in the middle.

First he looked to the right to find the kitchen area untouched then to the left to find Chopin making herself comfortable on the sun covered plush couch, the frazzled scientist stared dumbly at his cat before staring right ahead to see Blues through the closed glass patio doors excitedly talking out in the backyard to someone out of Dr Light's view.

A relief like no other washed over the scientist when he saw his precious boy unharmed and then he rushed out into the backyard without a single care that he was getting his bare feet dirty on the wooden patio and the freshly green grass, Blues barely had time to register him before Dr Light pulled his boy into a tight hug.

"Oh thank god you're safe..."

Blues shifted in his tight grasp somewhat but Dr Light did not let go of him, his heart was still pounding with fear. Then a pair of unfamiliar and metallic arms wrapped around both father and son, Dr Light stiffened and looked up to see a green robot looming over him with shimmering red eyes.

"Hiya gramps!"

The green robot spoke with a jovial voice, Dr Light gazed at this robot then to his son who had a sparkle in his hazel eyes.

"Dad, this is Auto! I built him and he’s my son!"

Blues spoke such confidence and pride that Dr Light almost staggered in place, Blues had built this robot? When!? How!? And wait...son???

"Blues Light, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Dr Light, he almost suffered a heart attack upon the mere thought of losing Blues. Good thing it was all a misunderstanding.
> 
> How is this for a character origin story? I was hit with the idea of Blues having built Auto while writing chapter 2 of this story and knew it had to be in this story which is how chapter 3 came to be.
> 
> Also auto tuning was invented in 1997 in our world, but this story takes place in 1992 so I’ll just chalk it up to the world of Mega Man being further ahead than ours.


	5. Differences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Father and son sit down to discuss both their new family member but also something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chopin the Cat belongs to me.

Dr Light leaned back into his favorite armchair, Chopin had quickly moved from her spot on the plush couch to place herself on his lap, he exhaled slowly from his nose and his mouth straightened out into a thin line. He was not angry, anger would imply that Blues who was looking at him with such hopeful eyes had done something wrong to which he had not, perplexed and confused would be the right words but even they didn’t completely cover the whole spectrum of emotion he was experiencing right now.

"So you spent all night and morning making Auto?"

Blues nodded slowly at his dad’s question, the robot boy had said as much previously. Dr Light glanced away from his son’s hazel eyes and saw the green robot in question milling about outside in the backyard, Auto seemed to be trying to take all of his surroundings in, it was truly hard to believe his son had made the green robot in only fourteen or so hours.

"Dad...are you mad?"

Blues' voice was laced with thinly veiled worry and the tired scientist focused his attention back onto the fidgeting robot boy, lightly Blues tugged at his yellow scarf.

"Not mad son, I’m just trying to wrap my head around this new development. You see...I’ve never heard of a robot created by another robot."

Blues sat up sharply and looked absolutely taken off guard, a small smirk twitched on Dr Light's lips, the robot boy opened and closed his mouth repeatedly as if wanting to ask a whole slew of questions. Dr Light decided to elaborate further on the last statement.

"Blues, I’ve told you multiple times how you are one of a kind. Are you aware of what exactly sets you apart from any other standard robot?"

Blues lost some of his sharp posture and sank a bit down into the plush couch once more, the metaphorical gears turning in his mind were obvious to see, but despite mulling over the answer Blues shook his head.

"You can simulate emotions pretty much on par with an actual human and your advanced artificial intelligence allows you to learn and adapt, you retain more than one category of knowledge and eagerly search for more to learn, you can analyze situations from multiple perspectives and think up a variety of different solutions. You are as human in mind and soul as modern robotics can allow."

Dr Light explained as simply as he could to his son, if he went too much into the nitty gritty he feared Blues might get too overwhelmed, who to his credit was listening quietly and attentively while the scientist kept on explaining.

"That is in basic terms what makes you unique Blues, standard robots can’t even begin to try and compete with you. Standard robots have no emotional outputs nor personality programs, they are built to work and nothing more, they have only one purpose and little else matters to their limited programming - standard robots do not even possess the ability to speak."

Blues' eyes had widened as Dr Light explained, the robot boy cast a fearful glance out to the backyard to his own son being used as an unwilling perch for small birds.

"But...Auto..."

Dr Light heard how his son's voice wavered and he too gazed out to look at his grandson - it would take some time to get used to the notion of being a grandfather already.

"Auto is, like you Blues, in a unique category. Auto is not on par with you in terms of programming and construct, you are more advanced and sophisticated, but on the other hand he is also more than just a standard robot."

The green robot in question was trying in vain to shake off the perched birds on his bolt ears but they seemed extremely unfazed by his efforts to shake them off.

"Not only can Auto speak but he can express emotion and a vibrant personality due to you installing the personality and emotional spectrum program, that program is the basics for your own personality and emotions."

Gently Dr Light urged Chopin off of his lap and then stood up, the cat meowed quietly to herself then slipped outside through the open patio doors, he walked over to his son then with one hand cupped his cheek and placed the other on Blues' chest - right where his chest panel is located.

"You possess what I’ve dubbed a cognitive circuit, it contains your entire being and is one of the two most important components in your body, but Auto possess an I.C chip which is the same but far less important. Do you know why they are different?"

Blues stared into his dad's patient blue eyes and bit his lip in thought then gave a hesitant answer.

"One can be repaired while the other can not?"

Dr Light nodded with a somber smile as he removed his hands from Blues and sat down next to him instead.

"Precisely. I cannot begin to tell you how many I.C chips I tore through until I was able to make the cognitive circuit you now have, the first attempts were not able to handle the advanced programming you required while the latter attempts could but they broke very easily and could not be recovered."

How many nights had Dr Light felt the taste of defeat after defeat when each circuit crumbled under different strains? Too many nights that he cared to not count at the moment.

"The cognitive circuit is the perfect balance of both, it can handle all of your programs and does not break under itself, however...should it get damaged or need to be replaced then..."

Dr Light trailed off, the science of the cognitive circuit was still in its infancy so surely the necessary breakthroughs in how to safely repair and replace it would appear surely...

"An I.C chip is different, it can be repaired or replaced should the need ever arrive. For example, should Auto ever get so heavily damaged that his I.C chip would need replacing then I would simply have to transfer all of his data from his CBU to my computer then get him a new I.C chip and put the data back inside."

Blues blinked, the lack of the clear seriousness from the previous topic must’ve hit him like a speeding train. Dr Light gently put an arm around his boy and held him close.

They stayed like that for a while, neither speaking up, until Blues finally broke the silence.

"So I’m essentially irreplaceable while Auto is replaceable?"

There was a certain bite in the robot boy's tone that made Dr Light flinch slightly, it was a rather blunt way of viewing the whole thing.

"In a completely objective manner of speaking? Yes."

Blues' hands tightened into fists and trembled as he placed them down on his lap, it was a form of controlled anger that he’d most likely picked up from Dr Light.

"Well...he’s my son, no one can replace him in my eyes."

Dr Light couldn’t help but chuckle fondly at how attached his son had already gotten his own son after only knowing Auto for what the scientist estimated was a little less than an hour. Gently a hand ruffled Blues' locks of auburn hair.

"I’m happy to hear that son but now I must ask you, why did you make him?"

Blues' hands relaxed a bit and unclenched, hazel eyes darted around the room but could not bear to meet curious blue ones now that the biggest elephant in the room was being addressed.

The robot boy licked his lips and knew it was time to come clean.

"Because...I’ve begun to feel this loneliness, I know it’s selfish since I have a loving family already, I know I’m one of a kind but I’m already tired of being that. I built Auto in hopes of making another robot like me."

Dr Light nodded in understanding, surely being all alone in the world must be unbearably lonely especially when there already were people around you that were not like you.

"To succeed you must first fail, Auto is not like you but he’s definitely a step in the right direction and a welcome addition to our little family. And who knows? In the future we might able to upgrade his I.C chip to a cognitive circuit like yours."

A tiny spark of hope crackled in Blues' hazel eyes and a little smile curled onto his lips, it eased Dr Light to see his son cheering up a little from the emotional dip he certainly must’ve suffered earlier.

"But no more all-nighters for you young man, go clean up the mess you left in the lab then promptly to bed with you."

Blues crossed his arms and sulked for a bit before resigning himself to his punishment and getting out of the couch, he walked in the direction to the lab but paused briefly.

"I hope we can upgrade him to feel the same way I do, there is so much I want to show him."

Blues spoke softly but lovingly then disappeared towards the lab leaving Dr Light to smile in agreement, this talk had been very helpful for both father and son - Dr Light got a deeper insight into what Blues had been feeling lately and Blues got a much clearer picture of how he as a robot worked.

It did entice Dr Light, the thought of making more robots like Blues, but he knew it was too early.

The scientist put on some shoes this time as he walked outside to speak to his fuming grandson, Auto was still being used as a perch for small birds and the green robot had frankly given up on getting rid of them until they scrambled away once the scientist approached.

"Now that I’ve had a good talk with Blues there is only one thing left to do."

Auto tilted his head at this ominous statement and one of his eyebrows quirked up, Dr Light smiled and grabbed his grandson by the arm.

"We need to find out what type of music you like."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got very heavy on dialogue but it was the only natural way, at least in my opinion, were I could info dump like this without it feeling shoehorned in. We will return to the subject of my take on Mega Man's robotics, naturally.
> 
> Also Auto likes country music, a tiny headcanon that won’t really be brought up much or be that important so I thought I’d just place it here.


	6. A hero to admire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blues and Auto discover something new after adding another channel to the TV: anime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mobile Suit Gundam belongs to Yoshiyuki Tomino and Bandai Namco. Astro Boy belongs to Osamu Tezuka. Sailor Moon (though not title dropped) belongs to Naoko Takeuchi.

A week had passed since Auto joined their little family and Blues felt the gnawing of that loneliness from back then dwindling slightly, that was a great relief for the robot boy.

Dr Light had tried to explain why he felt this way, aside from the obvious reason of being the only one of his kind, apparently humans suffered from a similar thing that they needed people similar to them in their inner circle or else they fall depressed very quickly - even certain animals suffered from this, apparently rabbits died if they were alone for too long.

However Dr Light also explained that some people and animals felt at their best when they were all alone, to them being around others were draining and stressful. Blues was quite intrigued by this revelation.

But none of that was important at the moment, no, at the moment the only important thing was getting more channels for the TV.

"Any changes yet?"

His dad asked in a concentrated murmur while typing on his laptop hooked up to the box shaped TV via two thin white wires, Blues grabbed the TV remote and flicked through the channels for the uncountable amount of time - the documentary channel buzzed to the news channel in a blur and then ended up on a unfamiliar channel.

Success!

"We got a new channel!"

The aged scientist smirked in triumph and held up his knuckle to meet his son's own knuckle in a satisfying fist bump, Blues jogged over to the kitchen window next to the TV and swung it open with a long creek from the hinges then twisted his body slightly to look up towards the roof of their home.

"Auto! You can come down now!"

Auto's relieved cheer responded from the top of the house where he was fiddling with a new TV antenna, apparently Blues' son had already developed a distaste for heights. Blues leaned back inside the kitchen and closed the window shut again.

Dr Light removed the thin wires connecting the TV to his laptop and took a peak at the new channel they’d just acquired, the scientist recognized the animated figures darting around the screen and knew this might be something his son and grandson would enjoy.

The happy mood Dr Light held dropped a bit once he caught sight of the wall mounted clock, 11:09 AM, he had a meeting to get to - a meeting he didn’t particularly look forward to.

"Son, I’ve got a meeting to get to so I sadly will be gone for a few hours."

Blues frowned a little disheartened when he heard his dad’s words, it was always a little sad when his dad had to leave for anything business related - which had become more frequent recently - because he was never allowed to come with.

For his own sake, his dad had said, Blues was not sure what he meant by that.

"I should be back an hour before dinner time, so try to keep your hands away from the coffeemaker."

Dr Light reached out and ruffled Blues' auburn locks of hair teasingly in hopes of lifting the robot boy’s spirits, his actions earned him a whine and a slight smile. Blues appreciated the gesture however he did not appreciate the mention of his archenemy.

Dr Light approached the front door and grabbed his business coat, bidding Blues a good day the scientist was out of the house before his son could voice a response.

Hazel eyes closed and a sigh escaped. Why was his dad so busy as of recently?

"Where did gramps go?"

Auto had been so relieved once his feet firmly touched the lovely green grass of the backyard, being so high up had been nerve wracking to say the least and the ladder used to reach said height squeaked so loudly the green robot feared it would give way under his weight, but in that relief he’d missed Dr Light leaving.

"Business meeting, he said he’d be back before dinner time."

Blues replied while reaching inside the fridge for two E-tanks, Auto hummed in response and closed the patio doors behind him. Father and son got themselves comfortable by the dinner table each with a E-tank in hand, Blues held the remote and turned the volume up a little as a bout of commercials came to an end.

"Think it’s about those robots gramps have been making blueprints of recently? Slider Poes or whatever?"

Blues snorted at the misnaming but just shrugged as music with a sci-fi vibe began to play.

The screen of the TV displayed a clear albeit animated image of what looked like Earth, suddenly lasers shot out from the planet and a big robot appeared on screen sporting a long saber of light. The music became even more epic as a woman began singing in Japanese and the title of the show dropped: Mobile Suit Gundam.

"Holy Einstein..."

Blues and Auto gasped in unison, Auto leaned forward a bit and tapped his fingers in beat to the music excitedly while Blues was in awe of the impressively animated fight scenes displayed in the opening.

The two robots had heard of this specific type of animation before yet this was the first time they both saw it with their own optics, this was anime.

"Pops did you see that!? That purple Gundam has lasers in their eyes!"

Blues nodded with a chuckle, Auto was quite literally on the edge of his seat as he watched the battles unfold. One of them had already discovered a favorite anime it seemed.

The episode ended with a slow paced and melancholy ending song, sponsors were thanked and a new show was soon to air.

"That...was so awesome! The tech! The action! The drama!"

Auto counted of each of the things that had absolutely captured him as the show went on, the mechanic inside of his core was practically yelling to build a Gundam! Blues shook his head with a snort and lazily looked away from his son's excitement to see the next show already in progress.

This show was about a young teenage human girl running around with a talking cat and possessing moon magic or something, Blues was not particularly interested in this one but the next one definitely caught him.

This show looked slightly older than the previous two and stared not a teenage girl nor a giant robot but a robot boy, very human in appearance and heart, who fought for justice. Blues leaned forward this time as the backstory of the main character, Astro Boy, began to play out.

Blues felt this connection forming as the episode came to an end, he could recognize so much of himself in the fictional robot boy.

"Do you think there are more episodes of Astro Boy?"

Blues asked with a slight smile and a bubbly feeling in his core, Auto raised a eyebrow at his father's eager expression but nodded regardless once he’d searched up the desired information - after looking up ways to build Gundams in real life of course!

His smile widened and both returned to watching whatever anime started airing next, though Blues was mostly lost in fantasy - fantasies of flying through the sky and fighting crime alongside his newfound hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Breaking news: local robot lad and his son discover anime then fanboy over it! 
> 
> All jokes aside, a little shorter chapter this time but one I was looking forward to writing.


	7. A look into the past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The A.R.T.S expo looms in the horizon and Blues is very nervous, naturally, but there is also something else he’s nervous about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chopin the Cat and Dr Light's family all belong to me.

The Advanced Robot Trade Show expo, held at the ending days of July every year, was a big get together for everything robotic and technological. The expo was held in America and many robotics scientists like Dr Light came from every corner of the world to share ideas and unveil their latest creations.

Dr Light was going to attend per usual but this time he was not going there alone, Blues and Auto were required to appear as well - a fact the two robots had mixed emotions over.

"What’s America like?"

Blues asked curiously one afternoon while playing chess with Dr Light, the scientist blinked a few times then glanced up at his son in a manner that implied he hadn’t quite caught his question. The knight he was about to move was left to stand on the board unmoved.

"America, the land of the free, what's it like?"

Dr Light scoffed and shook his head as if Blues had just said the most outrageous thing ever, the chessboard was pushed aside so they could focus solely on the discussion at hand. The emotions in his blue eyes showed different nuances of conflict, like the subject of his home country was a troubling subject to discuss.

"The land of the free, huh? I wouldn’t call it that, far from it if I am to be honest, but it’s like any other country really - it has its good and bad. What got you so curious?"

Dr Light already had an inkling about what it was but knew it was better if the robot boy got to say it himself. Blues hummed lowly and wrung his hands together gently, hazel eyes clouded with concerns of different kinds.

"Well, it’s mostly the upcoming A.R.T.S expo but also the visit to your family home. I’m...nervous."

Ah, yes...Dr Light hummed in understanding and placed a comforting hand over Blues' hands, he too was nervous though not for the same reasons as his son. The aged scientist knew this day would eventually come, but oh did it come too soon.

"I am nervous too, I fear for both you and Auto. Humans can be rather unkind."

Blues nodded curtly and bit his lip, he was so used to walking amongst humans without them knowing about his status as a robot but now he would be surrounded by a horde of people who all knew exactly what he was.

"And while I wish I could ease your fears regarding the expo, there is something I can indeed do about your other fear."

Dr Light let go of his son's hands then stood up from his seat and went upstairs to fetch something, which left Blues to sit and wait. Chopin, who had been pawing around on the floor aimlessly, jumped onto the dinner table and began nudging the chess pieces around with her nose to her heart’s content.

"Chopin, that’s cheating."

Blues snickered with a lightly mischievous grin on his face, she only blinked at him in response and kept readjusting the chess pieces on the board like she controlled the game.

Dr Light returned down the stairs with a thick album in his hands, it looked slightly worn around the edges but still retained its leather bound state with a brick red color scheme. Setting the heavy looking tome down on the table Dr Light gestured for Blues to bring his seat over to his side, the robot boy peered curiously down upon the album and wondered what his dad had to show him.

The first page was turned to show a black and white photo of a young looking couple in their wedding outfits, the woman was a head taller than the man with fluffy looking white colored hair while the man had darker hair and a sturdier build.

_Nikola and Hedwig Light, wedding day, 4th of March 1922_

"That’s my mother and father, on their wedding day."

Blues gazed down upon the smiling newlyweds who had their arms lovingly interlocked, it was obvious for anyone to see that they had found love together, if he squinted a bit he could see his dad in Hedwig's smile and Nikola's facial structure. Dr Light himself looked upon his parents with a gaze of nostalgia.

"My mother was actually pregnant with my older brother when they married, quite a scandal back in those times. My brother was born in December that same year."

Flipping to the next page showed a photo of Hedwig smiling down upon a newborn baby swaddled up in a white blanket, the baby looked to be asleep in her arms.

_Niels Light, newly born, 24th of December 1922_

"He must be quite old now."

Blues commented, Dr Light said nothing in response and flipped through a few more pictures detailing Niels' growth from baby to child. The young Niels was starting to grow familiar features, features Blues saw in his own reflection every day. The next picture Dr Light stopped on showed another baby with Niels looking down upon this baby with a quirked brow.

_Thomas Light, newly born, with older brother Niels, 28th of June 1936_

"Dad...you were that tiny once?"

The aged scientist chuckled humorously at his son's awe and question, playfully he ruffled Blues' locks of auburn, it was a question he’d heard many young children say to their elderly relatives and he never imagined he’d be at the receiving end of that one day as well. It was delightful.

The next few pictures showed Dr Light's early growth along with his brother’s continued growth, apparently in his younger days Dr Light had wanted to be a cowboy when he became an adult - something the present Dr Light embarrassedly chuckled at.

"It was during this time that the Second World War began, its a time I have mixed memories of...but a few are still clear to this day."

The next picture was a far more serious one that depicted Niels and Nikola, Niels who was now a young man stood beside his father, both of them bore military uniforms - Nikola wore a navy uniform while Niels wore pilot gear.

"Blues, I will be honest with you...my brother and I got along as well as a house on fire."

Those mournful words felt like a real harsh slap when they tumbled out of Dr Light's mouth as he gently traced his fingers along the old photo of his father and brother, the robot boy blinked dumbly for a few seconds before gaping at its dad.

"Niels and I fought over everything, we could barely do anything together without getting on each other’s nerves, this was a huge despair for our parents who tried but failed to help us find common ground. Looking back on those times...it really makes me treasure having you and Auto even more than I already did."

Dr Light sighed in sadness, he could recall only fighting with his brother instead of playing with him and only throwing harsh insults at him instead of nice comments, he’d been such a harsh and bratty child back then.

"Dad...did you ever make up with uncle Niels?"

The little glimmer of hope in Blues' core was dashed when Dr Light glumly shook his head then showed a few more pictures of his childhood spent with his mother during the war until he stopped on one grim photo. A grave, adorned with many flowers and candles.

_Our sweetest pilot now you fly with angels, mommy and daddy loves you, Niels Light 24/12/1922 - 06/06/1944_

Neither father or son spoke for a bit, Dr Light felt Blues put a gentle hand on his arm and the gesture was much appreciated, then the scientist began speaking once more.

"Blues my boy, you do not have to fear my family nor their response to you. My mother already holds you very dear and Auto equally so, my father would’ve felt the same as her had he still been alive today and while I cannot speak on my brother’s behalf I’m positive he would’ve approved of you. My family has endured the unending pain of losing a dear family member, it made us truly treasure one another."

Gently the album was placed down and Dr Light turned to fully embrace his son who tightly hugged back, though not too tightly otherwise he might hurt the man.

"Dad...why did you open up about this to me?"

The question was uttered in a hushed voice wrought with emotion.

"Because it’s your family history, a part of your own history. You had every right to be informed of it, especially now when we are soon going to visit my mother."

Dr Light softly replied and a soothing smile spread across his face as Blues slowly nodded in understanding, the robot boy probably did not fully understand the concept of death and loss yet - Dr Light prayed that Blues would not learn it as soon as he himself did - but he was already slowly grasping the knowledge.

"Thank you for telling me dad, it must’ve been painful."

The hug was broken after a few minutes and the photo album was closed, it’s memory filled pages containing imagines of a time long gone, Dr Light patted Blues on the shoulder with a smile that the robot boy mimicked right back at him.

"The pain faded many years ago but the regrets will follow me to my grave, promise me this Blues: whenever I do build you siblings, try to be better to them than I was to my own, okay?"

Blues felt the weight of those words and thought back to all his dad had told him about his late older brother, he already knew the answer deep inside his core.

"I promise I will! I’ll be the best big brother they ever had."

Dr Light was very pleased by the raw confidence and determination that dripped from Blues' declaration and knew that any future siblings that would come along were in good hands.

"Good, you may keep the album if you’d like but treat it kindly."

Blues said nothing and reached for the heavy tome then held it close to his chest and nodded, of course he would, this album held precious and important memories for his family and now him as well.

"Dad, meeting grandma doesn’t feel so scary anymore."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A heavier chapter than the last one but this one gives a brief glimpse into the past of Dr Light and a few things that helped shape him into the scientist we know, though my headcanon version of it anyway.
> 
> And yes, I did name his parents and brother after scientists and inventors.


	8. Advanced Robot Trade Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The A.R.T.S expo, held at the last day of July every year, was now upon them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nakaume Okazaki, Yuriy Oblast And Chopin the Cat (mentioned) belongs to me.
> 
> Warning for racism against robots and mild racism amongst the human cast.

Blues twirled a pencil between his fingers absentmindedly as he inspected his sketches in his sketchbook, he had drawn some everyday objects as practice like fruit and furniture until he’d moved on to more advanced subjects like Chopin playing with a piece of string.

He’d found drawing and sketching a fun pastime especially during a long trip like this.

"Why is there so much ocean? It’s getting boring."

Glancing up from his sketchbook Blues saw Auto hanging by a small circular window, he was slumped against the metal wall with an obvious bored expression on his face. His son had a point though, they’d been in the air for around an hour now and there was little one could do in the baggage compartment of a commercial plane.

The baggage compartment, Blues thought bitterly, like they were nothing else but luggage.

**Earlier that same day, Japan, Tokyo...**

_Dr Light rubbed the back of his neck uncontrollably while Blues and Auto sat in front of him silently digesting what he’d just told them, the first of them to break the silence was Auto._

_"But I’m not luggage!"_

_The green robot cried out indignant and Dr Light winced, the aged scientist understood fully why his grandson felt this way and he agreed wholeheartedly. Blues visibly scowled while placing a pacifying hand on his son's arm._

_"Will that be the worst of it?"_

_The robot boy asked in controlled anger, this was an insult of the highest degree._

_"No."_

_The answer was somber and apologetic, Blues and Auto shared a look then both sighed, there was no escaping this predicament. They would have to spend the whole trip to America in the baggage compartment, whether they liked it or not._

**Present time...**

"14 hours to go and I’m already getting cabin fever."

Blues muttered to himself while Auto began pacing around which did not help his mood, both of them were going stir crazy in here in this cramped space. Drawing would not distract Blues forever and Auto might tear the floor apart if he kept pacing until they landed.

"Being a robot sucks."

Auto sighed and sank down next to his dad on the floor, Blues hummed in agreement while flipping to his most current sketches and resumed working on them. Auto blinked a red eye as he peered over Blues' shoulder to spy what he was drawing this time.

"Is that battle armor?"

Blues jolted and clutched his sketchbook close while sending a glare at Auto who snickered in response, the armor piece Auto had seen was a series of concept sketches of a round helmet with a visor and sometimes without while being decorated with different patterns around the edges.

Other pieces of armor suggestions dotted the page like an arm cannon and armored guards around arms and legs, most of them were in grey but some bore the color blue.

"Looking nice pops! Are they for you?"

Blues blushed in embarrassment and stared down at his own sketches then nodded bashfully, it was a little embarrassing to have someone else besides Chopin see his ideas for battle armor for himself.

"Promise you won’t tell dad? I don’t know if he would approve or not..."

Blues did have his reasons for designing this armor, reasons that probably would sound childish and silly to anyone but him. Auto raised a brow but nodded anyway much to the other robot's relief.

"So you working on a superhero name too? Blues Man? The Blue Mystery? The Blue Rogue?"

Auto began chattering about names for Blues' future ideas, being called a superhero made him snicker slightly, and somehow he tried to incorporate the color blue or Blues' name into every name suggestion.

Blues rolled his eyes and let his son's chatter wash over him, this was going to be a really long trip.

**14 hours later, North America, Washington DC...**

Dr Light straightened his stiff back and rolled his shoulders to get rid of the stiffness of being seated for fifteen hours, sure he had been asleep for the majority of the trip but still. Grabbing his luggage from the compartment overhead then shuffling out of the plane was a slow process but Dr Light was beyond thankful to finally feel fresh air around him again.

Diverging from the column of the other passengers Dr Light made his way over to the baggage compartment of the plane to see Blues and Auto jumping out much to the confusion of the airport staff.

"Gramps! That was the worst trip ever."

Auto exclaimed once they met up, Blues nodded in silent agreement, Dr Light flashed them both an apologetic smile.

"It only gets worse from here."

He said vaguely, the two robots dreaded to find out what could possibly be worse than being treated like luggage. Silently the two followed the scientist as they left the airport and made their way to their hotel, the rooms provided for them by the coordinators of the expo.

**************

If by getting worse meant getting stared at then it wasn’t too bad.

Blues didn’t get any stares since he was so human looking however Auto got a barrage of stares from almost every passerby while they walked through town to get to the convention center where the A.R.T.S expo was to take place.

Blues could only assume that the field of robotics was not as advanced here in America as it was back home in Japan, for example the hotel they’d checked into the day before had mostly only human staff while the robots were left with basic cleaning jobs.

"Dad?"

Dr Light perked up when Blues spoke up and looked over his shoulder, they ceased walking and Blues could faintly make out the convention center in the distance.

"What will the expo be like?"

Dr Light stroked his beard thoughtfully to recall every instance when he’d attended the expo.

"Well when we arrive there will be mostly mingling amongst the other scientists for a couple of hours, we’ll exchange ideas and other such things until it’s time to head for the big conference hall to showcase our newest inventions then have debates if that is scheduled and once that is over we’re pretty much free to linger as long as we please."

Sounded simple enough for Blues, but the showcase part did make him feel rather anxious. So many eyes on him, studying him and tearing him apart piece by piece with their gazes. Dr Light gently put his hands on his son's shoulders.

"I will not sugarcoat this son, you will be looked upon as an object by some of them and referred to as an it - same for you Auto - but I do have a few friends there who will be kind to you both so all I can tell you is this: try to endure it but do not be afraid to speak up."

Blues gulped down his boiling anxiety, he truly wished he did not have to be there but he had little choice.

Eventually they resumed walking and the convention center drew closer, the building was circular in design with at least three floors from ground up and the ceiling looked to be made out of something that looked like glass in different colors. The white and yellow colored exterior looked rather unsightly to Blues.

The automatic doors slid open to reveal a lot of people walking about and a cacophony of voice’s in different volumes assaulted their ears and audio receptors, Blues instinctively grabbed onto Dr Light's arm then grabbed Auto's hand into his own. The scientist took out a pamphlet with the A.R.T.S initials on it then began guiding them along.

**************

Along one of the exhibits two men stood together and grumbled to each other in heavily accented English, the first man was Doctor Mikhail Cossack and the other was Professor Yuriy Oblast.

"I swear the reception here is colder than the snow back home, don’t they know the Cold War is over yet?"

Yuriy muttered angrily while running a hand through his dark brown hair, his deep blue eyes were narrowed into an almost permanent glare. Mikhail sighed and shook his head of dirty blond hair, his blue eyes reflected tiredness.

"Change takes time Yuriy, the whole world is still adjusting."

Mikhail muttered while scratching his growing beard that was itching real badly, it had yet to connect to his mustache. The other man crossed his arms and huffed in response.

"Mikhail! Good to see you."

The two Russian men perked up and looked out to see Doctor Thomas Light approaching them, behind him they both spotted a boy in his mid teens with auburn hair and hazel eyes wearing a striking yellow scarf and next to him was a green robot with glowing red eyes.

"Ah Thomas, good to see you too. Yuriy this is Doctor Thomas Light, he and I went to Mecha-Chuchets Institute of Robology together. Thomas this is Professor Yuriy Oblast, he’s my childhood friend and runs the Oblast's University of Biological Technology."

Mikhail introduced his two friends to each other and they politely shook hands while exchanging greetings, Thomas then introduced the two to his robotic son and grandson.

"N-nice to meet both of you..."

Blues Light stuttered out while Auto Light just gave a friendly wave to them both, Mikhail gaped in awe of the boy and crouched down slightly to get a better look at him.

"Likewise, I never imagined I’d ever see a robot as advanced as you Blues, you’re quite a marvel."

The robotic boy seemed embarrassed by receiving such a compliment and fidgeted nervously with his scarf while Auto snickered teasingly at him.

"You doing your usual meet and greet?"

Thomas nodded at the question, the chat was cut short with the promise of picking it back up later since Thomas still had friends to meet up with so he bid the two Russians farewell and walked away with his two robotic family members.

"A robot child and grandchild? Feels a little weird if you ask me."

Yuriy commented to himself while Mikhail hummed along absentmindedly, the intriguing concept that was Blues Light had lit the sparks of ideas in his brain.

**************

Further inside the exhibit floor a man approached a woman, the man, Doctor Albert W. Weck, held something secretly behind his back as he greeted Doctor Noelle LaLinde. The German scientist pulled his hand away from his back to unveil a bouquet of red lilies.

"Albert! These are beautiful, how did you know red lilies are my favorite flowers?"

Noelle accepted the offered bouquet with a vibrant smile and inhaled the lovely scent of the flowers, her brown eyes hidden behind half rimmed glasses radiant in the light of the convention center, Albert blushed faintly at her happiness and ran a hand through his thinning grey hair on the top of his head.

"That’s a secret I’m afraid."

Noelle raised a playful brow at this and Albert chuckled nervously.

"I know you haven’t finished your major project yet but I thought I would congratulate you in advance-"

Albert was interrupted when Doctor Thomas Light appeared on the scene with an odd entourage following him closely behind, the German scientist was a bit miffed over being interrupted but nonetheless greeted his old friend happily.

"Thomas old boy, I almost believed you weren’t going to show you old timer."

Thomas mock laughed at his friend’s teasing and shook his hand firmly as a form of revenge.

"Now now, he isn’t that old."

Noelle spoke with a sly smile on her face as she too shook Thomas' hand though with her his grip was not as firm.

"Enough of that you two, and let me introduce Blues Light, my son, and Auto Light, my grandson."

Albert and Noelle greeted the two robots enthusiastically, deep interest radiated off of them both and Blues glanced at his dad nervously as they inspected him with trained eyes. Thomas gave his son an apologetic smile in return.

"Amazing, Thomas you must share all that you can about how he functions - my two girls would benefit greatly from this."

At Noelle's statement Blues perked up considerably, he wanted to ask her questions regarding these girls of hers but reigned them in for after when the expo was over.

"Poor boy looks intimidated though, chin up, these vultures might look scary but you don’t have to be afraid."

Albert said encouragingly and ruffled Blues' hair with a mild laugh, the robot boy yelped in surprise and reached up to fix his ruffled hair.

"I’ll...I’ll keep that in mind, thank you Mister Weck."

The Light family didn’t stay too much longer and had to move on, Thomas bid his two dear friends goodbye while Blues hesitantly waved.

Albert and Noelle were left alone once more.

"I hope my two girls can become as alive as Blues."

Noelle commented with a fond smile on her face as her mind drifted to the two half finished robots laying in her lab back home in Japan, Albert hummed.

"I’m sure they will be..."

**************

At an exhibit closest to the doors leading to the conference hall two men sat and talked, the older looking man was Nakaume Okazaki who rested a firm hand on his left kneecap while the other man Pedro Astil bore a look of concern.

"My friend, does your prosthetic hurt a lot?"

Nakaume curtly nodded in response, the Japanese man hissed quietly as he gently massaged along the edges of where his flesh and blood thigh met his new metallic leg, Pedro patted him on the back sympathetically.

"That Oblast guy said it would cease hurting constantly after a few months."

Nakaume sighed as he stopped massaging the hurting area, glancing up he saw what looked like Santa Claus in a lab coat followed by a kid and an odd looking green robot. Following his friend's gaze Pedro smiled - quite the opposite from the gaze narrowed in suspicion Nakaume wore - and stood up to meet his old friend.

"Thomas, how are you?"

The South American scientist happily hugged the North American scientist who heartily laughed in response.

"Quite well I think Pedro, and you?"

Pedro made a so so gesture with his hand then looked over at his friend who was still sitting down, Nakaume had already disregarded Thomas and was once more massaging his aching prosthetic.

"This is Nakaume Okazaki, head of Nakaume Heavy Machinery and a dear friend of mine, he’s here as part of the showcase held by Yuriy Oblast."

Thomas gave a friendly greeting but was met only with a low hiss and grumble, Pedro apologized for his friend’s unfriendly response but the older scientist just brushed it off.

"So I heard you’re leading a team into the Amazon after this to inspect those ruins that suddenly rose from the ground, nervous?"

Pedro chuckled but shook his head, Blues watched the two friends talk amongst each other and checked his internal clock.

15:50 AM, it was soon time for the showcase.

"Dad, we should go to the conference hall now and prepare for our showcase."

Thomas looked at his own clock and realized his son was right, the Light family had to hastily leave Pedro who waved lightly as he watched them leave then he turned to his friend.

"We should head there as well, would you like some help?"

Pedro offered a hand to his still hissing friend who hesitated at first out of pride but eventually caved to the pain and took the offered hand.

**************

Once Dr Light entered the conference hall with Blues and Auto in tow the two robots behind him relaxed somewhat since there were not that many people present yet, the Light family sat down on their assigned seats on the front row.

"Sorry you got so little attention Auto."

Dr Light said after getting himself comfortable in his seat on Blues' left, Auto waved a dismissive hand in return from his own seat on Blues' right.

"Don’t worry gramps, pops is the true miracle of engineering while I’m just happy to not be the center of attention - that’s scary."

Blues slumped on his seat, being the center of attention was not fun at all, sure he did get compliments from Mister Cossack and Mister Weck but still...

"Hey dad, what was Miss LaLinde talking about? Is she working on robots like me?"

The mere thought of it did give Blues a slight uplift in spirit.

"Why yes, she is. Noelle has inquired extensively about how you function and how to replicate that, she’s working on two robot girls but I do not know what their names are yet."

Dr Light smiled fondly at the memories of the many phone calls he’d had with Dr LaLinde during the creation process of Blues, she’d been so eager to learn and had helped him keep his spirits up.

Blues smiled slightly while the conference hall began to slowly fill up with more and more people, it was soon time for the showcase to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very long chapter this time but with a lot of characters making their first appearances, not much else to say other than this chapter originally being intended to be longer but was eventually split up.


	9. A showcase of sentience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The decisive moment was now upon them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nakaume Okazaki, Yuriy Oblast and Chopin the Cat belongs to me.

Stepping onto the stage and taking her place by the podium, the spotlights enveloped her form, lightly she tapped the microphone mounted on the podium then she smiled. Her steady hands gripped a few sheets of paper, the schedule for this years showcase.

"Hello and welcome to this years Advanced Robot Trade Show, I am Doctor Noelle LaLinde and I’ll be your host during this showcase."

She spoke with a clear tone of voice as she began to explain how the showcase would be carried out, from the front row of the audience seats Dr Albert leaned over to whisper to Dr Light.

"Nervous?"

Dr Albert hissed in a teasing tone of voice to which his old friend gave him a half lidded glare in response, they both knew how much the other loathed public speaking and presentations - his very own kryptonite as some of their old teachers had proclaimed.

"Don’t you know it."

Dr Light sighed tiredly while stroking his white beard, he feared how this room full of scientists and more would react upon the revelation of Blues and Auto. Humans had this natural distaste for things they did not understand, they tended to lash out horribly.

The German scientist just snickered good heartedly and patted the other on the shoulder.

"Come now Thomas ol' boy, your natural charm and charisma always win over the crowds. But if you need someone better to stand in for you..."

Dr Light playfully elbowed his friend who quietly snickered in return, resuming their attention back towards the stage the nervousness felt by Dr Light had faded a bit.

Blues, who had eavesdropped a little on his dad’s conversation with Dr Albert through his superior hearing, eagerly awaited whatever the showcase had to offer once the first person was called upon the stage by Dr LaLinde.

Dr Cossack stiffly made his way upon the stage and some murmurs sounded out amongst the masses once he began to speak in his heavily accented English, whether the Russian scientist heard them or chose to ignore was not quite clear. Dr Cossack presented forward a new type of power core for robots, instead of the common nuclear core used by every known robot - Blues and Auto included - he suggested to use a solar powered core.

Once he’d finished his presentation it was time for a small window of questions, most questions only focused on the costs this sort of switch would gross however Dr Astil showed the most positive interest in Dr Cossack's new idea - a collaboration between them looked very promising once Dr Cossack left the stage looking rather pleased.

Following behind his dear friend was none other than Professor Oblast and Nakaume who was there to help in the presentation, Blues would not lie if asked whether he flinched or not - he did - when Nakaume rolled up his pant leg to show fully how his metallic prosthetic weaved into the tissue of his flesh and blood thigh. According to Professor Oblast's presentation this prosthetic was an improved model based on feedback from previous patients, it was more responsive to commands from the nervous system and made of a lighter weight but durable alloy so to not cause unnecessary stress for the patient.

The questions this time were far more apprehensive, most of the audience seemed to still be gathering themselves from the sheer whiplash brought on from the vastly different topics between this presentation and the last one.

The next presentation, regarding better ways of refining oil did not catch as much attention as the two previous presentations nor the one following that was centered around the topic of self serving coffee machines, Blues was polite enough to at least look like he was paying attention while Auto fully displayed his boredom.

The next half an hour passed by in a disinterested blur as one after another scientist after scientist came up to show their either mundane invention, weird ideas or straight up laughable suggestions. Blues kept glancing down upon the printed schedule of presentations in his hand to see that the one his dad was going to hold would soon arrive.

The next to last to be called upon the stage was Dr Astil who began to showcase his new discovery of how it was possible to combine modern robotics with the natural flora of nature, his ideal was to make modern robotics more environmentally friendly. This ideal was meet with the same skepticism as Dr Cossack's own suggestion of environmentally friendly robotics but by the time Dr Astil walked off stage he still looked very satisfied.

"It’s time, good luck."

Dr Albert stood up along with Dr Light and swiftly made his way over to Blues who he offered a reassuring clap on the shoulder along with the reminder to stay strong.

It was time to face the vultures.

Dr Light along with Blues and Auto made their way onto the stage, Blues' leg joints felt weak all of the sudden once he saw all of the piercing glazes directed towards him.

"As Doctor LaLinde already said I am Doctor Thomas Light and I’ll be presenting my new creation, may I present to all of you DLN-000 or as I have named him Blues."

Once Dr Light began to speak all gazes automatically turned to Auto who began fidgeting nervously next to Blues who shot him a sympathetic glance, imagine the sheer shock and bewilderment everyone in the audience save for a select few must’ve felt when Dr Light put a hand on Blues' shoulder.

"Blues here is the walking testament to what modern robotics truly is capable of once pushed to its limit and beyond, he possess a sentient mind akin to that of a real human being yet can categorize data and make logic based decisions on a level far more sophisticated than the average robot of today. Blues can think and feel for himself, he seeks knowledge and can create based on personal desires."

Now Dr Light motioned for Auto who winced slightly and nervously made a halfhearted attempt at a friendly wave, the whole conference hall was dead silent like a tomb and so Dr Light spoke on.

"Blues created Auto here due to experiencing the emotions of loneliness, he’d hoped to create another robot like himself though he failed in that endeavor he still created a robot capable of not only speech but basic emotional intelligence as well."

Dr Light shifted his gaze briefly to his son and grandson before going back to looking at the wide audience.

"Blues is the future of what modern robotics are capable of, gone is the era of mindless drones, a new age is upon us all. Thank you for listening, I will now...take your questions."

The exhausted sigh that escaped from Dr Light was soon drowned out by the predictable uproar once the shock had settled, many were confused while others were outraged upon this.

A robot that could think and feel? This was absurd! That is what many of them cried out.

Blues clenched his fists at every question being hollered at his dad, these people...they were ungrateful and...no, such language was beneath him.

Quietly Blues tapped his son on the arm and then nodded his head in Dr Light's direction, after some hesitation the green robot nodded and walked over to his gramps. Auto gently pulled the confused Dr Light away from the podium as Blues took his place with determination blazing in his hazel eyes.

The outcry ceased as Blues cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

"As my father said, my serial number is DLN-000 but my name is Blues Light, I am his son but I am also a robot. I was activated roughly a month ago and has since eagerly taken in this world that all of you have enjoyed for a far longer period than I, and I must say this so listen!"

The robot boy spoke with a voice unwavering, he let his hazel gaze sweep across the numerous people seated in front of him and on all sides of him, their unyielding attention was on him.

"I have experienced the happiness of being accepted by my family, my grandmother knitted this very scarf and sent it all the way from America to Japan just for me."

The yellow scarf in question was clutched tightly to his beating core, it’s warmth and softness enveloping his entire being.

"I’ve experienced the loneliness of being the only robot of my kind, I made my own son Auto in hopes of filling that void in my life and so far he has done so every day since I created him."

Next to the podium Auto chuckled sheepishly and scratched his underbite.

"I’ve experienced the sheer frustration of trying in vain to brew a cup of coffee, my archenemy the coffeemaker back home in our kitchen never fails to taunt me over my inability to taste food the way all of you can."

Dr Light could not help the snort he tried to cover up from escaping when his son brought up the coffeemaker in such a serious way.

"I’ve experienced the humiliation of being treated as luggage simply because I am a robot and I’ve experienced the sadness of having to part with my beloved cat Chopin in order to come here."

Across the oceans back in Japan Chopin laid curled up by the sun kissed windowsill of the Light family’s next door neighbor and eagerly awaited their return.

"I do not need your approval nor do I need your acceptance to know my own value, it is all up to each and everyone of you to do that yourself. I am Blues Light, I am here and I am not going anywhere. Thank you for your time."

Blues nodded politely then stepped away from the podium feeling a lot better once he’d gotten all of that off of his chest, he did not need nor care whether those so called geniuses accepted his existence and sentience for the pride and approval on his dad’s face was all that he needed.

All was quiet until a lone person began to clap, the entire Light family looked out in awe to see Dr Albert standing up with a pleased look on his face, following that Dr LaLinde began to clap as well followed by Dr Cossack, Professor Oblast, Dr Astil, Nakaume and soon the whole audience clapped in unison.

Dr Light wrapped an arm around both his son and grandson as they stepped off the stage, smiling at them both proudly.

"You two were great."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say about this chapter save for the fact that Dr Albert is such a nice guy towards Blues and a very good friend to Dr Light.


	10. Aftermath and departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blues and Auto are left to mingle as they please until they have to head back to the hotel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hedwig Light (only mentioned) belongs to me.

The spectacle of the showcase was finally wrapped up and now all the participants were free to roam as they pleased, some either returned to their hotel rooms or to their homes but some still roamed about on the exhibition floor.

"I need to call my mother to inform her we’re arriving tomorrow so I’m letting you boys loose until I’m done, I’ll notify you both when it’s time to regroup by the front entrance, have fun!"

With those simple words Dr Light had left Blues and Auto to mingle as they pleased, which left the two robots looking around relatively lost on what to do with such freedom suddenly in their metallic hands.

"Well pops...whatcha wanna do?"

Auto scratched one of his bolt ears as he spoke, his red eyes flickering as he blinked at every exhibit around them. Blues tapped his chin in thought then recalled one thing he definitely wanted to do.

"I want to find Miss LaLinde, dad said she’s building two robots like me and I’m curious about them."

With their goal set the father and son duo set out into the large exhibit hall to find Dr LaLinde, they retraced their previous path to find she was currently not at the exhibit they had first encountered her on. Blues looked around with eyes squinted in focus until he spied recognizable lavender purple hair a bit away by a stall of refreshments.

Dr LaLinde was pleasantly chatting away with Dr Albert when the Light robots approached them both.

"Well we’ll, if it ain’t the man of the hour! Quite a good speech Blues."

Dr LaLinde said with a playful smirk as she pinched the robot boy’s cheek, Blues blushed lightly at her compliment but shook the embarrassment off quickly.

"Um...Miss LaLinde? I wanted to ask about your daughters if it’s okay."

Slightly behind the Filipino-French scientist Dr Albert chuckled humorously at how alike Blues was to his father, both his old friend and his robotic son grew nervous when excited about something.

At Blues' question Dr LaLinde smiled knowingly and pulled out her cellphone, flicking through a few pictures until she found the desired one she showed the screen to Blues and Auto.

"No need to be nervous, they currently do not have any names but their serial numbers are LMN-000 and LMN-001. I’m halfway finished with building them both but a lot of work still remains."

The picture showed two robotic endoskeletons laying on two separate lab tables, numerous cables hung from them both and cascaded down the sides of the tables like a colorful set of waterfalls.

The one on the left had a completed head with a pair of striking blue eyes staring out onto nothing, her power core sat plugged into the still open chest cavity, her thin arms laid by her sides still in a barebones state while the entire lower half of her body remained in loosely attached pieces.

The one on the right had a head that was partially constructed with a single green eye also staring into oblivion like her sister, unlike her sister her arms looked almost fully completed with two menacing looking drills replacing her hands, she had a fully closed chest cavity and barebones looking lower half.

"Wow...what will their functions be?"

Auto curiously asked while studying the two unfinished robots in the picture thoroughly, in his CBU mental notes began to appear regarding the internal construct of robots like his pops.

"Well they both will be my daughters but respectively LMN-000 will work as a news reporter and LMN-001 will assist me in my geological research."

That would explain the drills of the one on the right Blues noted, it seemed like a very daunting task to build a robot on par with him - no wonder his dad thought of him as his masterpiece.

"Your LaLinde Master Numbers will the envy of all next year, or so I’d say if my own robot won’t knock their socks off."

Dr Albert commented with a challenging glint in his light blue eyes, a glint that Dr LaLinde answered with a glint of her own fully accepting his challenge.

"You’re making a robot too Mister Weck?"

The German scientist nodded though he made a zipper motion with his mouth then smirked, Blues grumbled at the gesture since he had even more questions now - this time towards Dr Albert but figured it was futile to press the matter.

"Anyway...why are they called Master Numbers? I understand the LaLinde part since you are their creator Miss LaLinde."

Blues' own serial number only contained the initials for Doctor Light Number, not Master, so this difference intrigued him greatly.

"Well you see, it’s because I’ve dubbed them both as Robot Masters. They are far too advanced to be referred to as just robots so I thought it appropriate to give them a class definition, a Robot Master has a job out in society and thus they possess the ability to command the worker robots around them for a rise in efficiency compared to if a human were to commend them instead."

Blues nodded in understanding at Dr LaLinde's explanation of what defined a Robot Master though it made him ponder, was he not a Robot Master then? He did not work out in society and did not have any worker robots to command to and fro so...he wasn’t a Robot Master then.

"Then what category do Auto and I fall into?"

Dr Albert tapped his chin then tossed his own thoughts into the mix.

"Blues, I would peg you as a prototype of the Robot Masters that will come after you, and as for you Auto, you are definitely the first sentient standard robot so many more like you will probably crop up soon."

Auto seemed excited at the notion of being an inspiration while Blues sighed in resignation.

"Will your robot be a Robot Master Mister Weck?"

Dr Albert shook his head with a soft smile on his face, his thoughts drifting back to the beginnings of his child laying tucked away under a white sheet on his lab table back in his home in Köln.

"My child will be finished next year so look forward to the A.R.T.S expo next July, I think you’ll like DWN-000."

Dr Albert ruffled Blues' auburn locks one last time then bid them all farewell until next year, he had a flight back home to Germany waiting for him and he did not want to miss it.

"Well my girls will be done by September this year so you’re all welcome to see them when they are to be activated, my home is in Shinjuku Thomas will know the way."

Dr LaLinde too had to bid them farewell since she had a flight back to Japan to catch, she flashed the two robots a warm smile and a friendly parting wave of the hand then she too disappeared into the shuffling crowd.

"Man, the A.R.T.S expo next year is going to be so exciting! Hopefully we won’t have to spend that trip in the baggage compartment again."

Blues laughed as he patted his son on the arm, he certainly hoped not otherwise they would risk dying of boredom on the way. Auto kept grumbling while he crossed his arms though his white underbite twitched, clearly he was trying to keep a serious image.

Both robots were brought out of their moment by a beeping in their respective built in comm, Blues tapped his audio receptor that was shaped like a human ear while Auto tapped one of his bolt ears - their audio receptors and comms were built as one but depending on where they tapped they accessed different functions like calling and receiving calls from others.

_"I’ve finished up all of my business, I’m waiting for you boys by the front entrance."_

The call from Dr Light was a short one but was received gratefully, even though it had been fun to chat with Dr LaLinde and Dr Albert the noise and crowds were starting to make Blues really anxious so the two robots quickly went to meet up with Dr Light.

The scientist waited for them by the front entrance as promised and all three eagerly left the convention center behind them, by the time anyone broke the silence the dome shaped building was far behind them.

"How will we get to grandma's house?"

Blues asked, his voice filtered with some tiredness from everything the day had thrown at them.

"By train, tomorrow morning we’ll take quite a few train trips until we reach Minnesota, and this time...you two get to sit with me."

The hustle and bustle of the Washington DC streets drowned out the relieved cheer both Blues and Auto let out as well as the fond laughter from Dr Light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter this time but it’s mostly wrap up for the A.R.T.S expo.
> 
> The explanation regarding Robot Masters given by Dr LaLinde is my own headcanon explanation for what defines a Robot Master, they have jobs in society and command worker robots, and why I personally don’t view Blues, Rock and Roll (along with a few others) as Robot Masters. If this conflicts with any canon information that I’m unaware of then sorry but these are the facts I’m sticking with.
> 
> For anyone who might be confused, Cologne is the name used for the German town in English but I opted to use its German name Köln since Dr Albert is German.
> 
> Also last update for this year! See you all in 2021!


	11. The Light family farm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blues enjoys some quality time with his family on the countryside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hedwig Light, Akira Light and Chopin the Cat (mentioned) belongs to me.
> 
> Aki, Suna and Daini are from Mega Man Fully Charged.
> 
> Larssonville is a fictional town I made up specifically to give Dr Light a hometown in Minnesota, any resemblance to people and places in the real world are purely unintentional.

Blues groaned groggily as he awoke to his internal alarm, it was 7:00 AM and it was time to rise like sunshine whether he liked it or not. Hazel eyes blinked until the haze of sleep faded into the awareness of the awoken, his vision cleared up into a bedroom that was not his own.

The baby blue walls he were familiar with were replaced with pastel yellow, dark brown floorboards were replaced with light brown, a room yet to be fully furnished to reflect his self was replaced with a fully furnished room that once belonged to someone now long gone.

Blues sat up in the bed and stretched his stiff joints until they popped in a satisfying way, pushing the white bedding aside the robot boy stood up and walked over to the closed bedroom window. Pulling the white lace curtains aside to let in the rays of morning light Blues then unlocked the window and let the fresh morning breeze blow into the guest room he occupied.

Bending a little forward Blues propped up his elbows and rested his chin in the palms of his hands, out there beyond the fenced borders of the farmhouse stretched fields of flaxseed as far as the eye could see with a few farmers already out and tending in the fields, the soft chirps of a wind chime lulled the peaceful August morning.

It had already been two days since Blues and his family had arrived at the Light family farm, going from the hustle and bustle of lively cities to the calm and tranquil of his grandmother's farm had been quite a shock but eventually it vaned.

"Hey Blues!"

The robot boy was brought out of his thoughts by a voice calling from below the open window, Blues looked down to see a young teenaged boy with black hair that flared up at the front and big earthy brown eyes. The boy grinned widely when he saw the robot boy looking down at him.

"Come down here and help us with the chores!"

Blues nodded in silent confirmation then closed the windows once more, turning to his suitcase Blues fished out a pair of light colored jeans and white and red colored t-shirt then his yellow scarf that he threw on before leaving the guest room. The corridor outside of the guest room was dark green color with multiple doors on both sides that lead to other bedrooms and smaller rooms.

The robot boy turned left then followed the corridor down until he came upon the stairs leading down to the first floor, the wooden steps creaked pleasantly as he descended down. The stairs lead down into the main hall of the house that held the front door and other doors leading to other parts of the house, Blues opted for the front door and was basked in warm sunlight once more.

"Man, you sleep like a corpse! We tried waking you an hour ago!"

Approaching Blues was the teen boy, Aki Light, the youngest child of his cousin. Aki elbowed Blues teasingly with a lopsided smirk on his sun kissed face, the robot boy chuckled and shoved the teen boy playfully in response.

"Excuse me? 'We'? I think you mean me, Mister five more minutes."

Another voice joined into the conversation, a teen girl with chocolate brown colored skin approached the two boys carrying a basket filled with freshly laid eggs. The teen girl, Suna Light who was Aki's older sister, had dark purple hair that reached just below her chin and deep green eyes.

Aki chuckled sheepishly at his sister’s reprimand while Blues only snorted.

"It’s not my fault I have a built in alarm system that wakes me up at precisely 7:00 AM sharp, I am in complete sleep mode until that alarm sounds and nothing can wake me up unless it’s a issued command to wake up early."

The two human siblings listened in rapt attention as Blues explained how his way of sleep worked, the robot boy couldn’t help but smile at how eager they were to learn more about how he functioned - when he and his family had arrived they had all been surprised to see not only Hedwig but also Dr Light's nephew with wife and three children.

"Huh, neato! Now enough stalling, we got work to do."

Suna marched on ahead of the boys to the backside of the farmhouse where a back porch sat neatly nestled against the house's backside, a medium sized greenhouse stood a bit away from the back porch and through the windows the three teens could see a person moving about inside.

"Grandma! I picked the eggs like you asked!"

Suna called out towards the greenhouse and the person shuffling inside stepped out to respond, the person was Hedwig Light. The old woman had short grey hair that reached down to her ears and big green eyes that sparkled in the light, her face was soft and kind with wrinkles of old age, on her head a straw hat was nestled and on her hands were leather gloves stained with old mud.

"That’s lovely dear, get them to your father in the kitchen. Aki, your mother's been looking for you and bring Blues with you."

Suna walked up onto the back porch and entered the white back door leading into the kitchen leaving Aki and Blues to do as commanded by their grandma, Hedwig smiled at them then returned into her greenhouse. The boys backtracked to the front of the house then walked across the open area where a car was parked, their destination was the chicken coop where Aki's mother were feeding the chickens.

"Mom, did you need anything?"

The two boys entered the coop to find hens and chickens gathering around a big bowl filled with chicken feed, standing near that was Akira Light. Akira was a Japanese woman of short stature with dark brown shoulder length hair pulled up in a ponytail and black eyes, she looked up from the feathered animals and smiled.

"Yes, I need you to go to the...the...place with lots of medicine."

Akira struggled at the word she was seeking, her English absolutely dripping with a Japanese accent. Blues switched his language settings and spoke up to assist her.

_"Do you mean the pharmacy?"_

The human woman perked up at the sound of her native language and nodded gratefully, next to the robot boy Aki gaped slightly at the abrupt switch from English to Japanese - it sounded so flawless.

"Yes, Daini needs these eyedrops for his new eye."

Akira pulled out a small handwritten note from the breast pocket of her lime green blouse and handed it to her son who nodded in understanding, the robot boy thought back to Aki's older twin brother who was rarely seen outside - due to light sensitivity after an operation.

"Right, anything else we should do while we’re in town?"

Aki's mother hummed thoughtfully then shrugged once she couldn’t think of anything else that she knew they needed, with a clear errand to run the two boys bid the woman farewell and made their way to the front gate of the farm where they found Dr Light working on the engine of the rustic green tractor of the farm.

"You boys off to town?"

The scientist asked in a hearty laugh, Blues nodded with a smile happy to see his dad so at ease once more after the stress brought on by the A.R.T.S expo. Dr Light had shed his white lab coat and business suit to instead don a red shirt with white buttons by the collar and a pair of worn jeans along with some blue boots.

"Yes, Miss Akira said Daini needed some eyedrops. We’re going to pick up his prescription at the pharmacy in town, need anything while we are there?"

Dr Light nodded and produced a whole grocery list of things along with a wad of cash to pay for everything.

"I also want you to check if they sell E-tanks, if they don’t then we can’t stay long."

Blues frowned sadly at the remainder that their time here was limited, he really liked it here at the farm - if they only had Chopin and a fully functional lab then everything would be perfect.

Dr Light waved them off as they began traveling down the country road leading to the nearby town, the pleasant breeze ruffled their hair and brushed across the great fields of seed around them. Some livestock could be heard in the distance, sheep grazing amongst the grass and cows chewing straw lazily.

Blues could never have imagined a place like this existed, to him the world consisted of his home in Tokyo.

"So...what’s an E-tank?"

Aki curiously leaned over to Blues, the human boy had been quiet about his confusion when father and son had casually talked about it but now he wanted answers.

"That’s what robots like Auto and I eat, it’s our fuel and without it we all eventually cease to function, that’s why it’s important to check if there is a steady supply here - if there isn’t then we can’t stay here more than two days or else we’ll be in big trouble."

Blues explained simply to the curious boy who nodded along in understanding, a flock of birds flew overhead and cried out in a chorus.

"Huh...must be complicated, being a robot I mean, being a human is hard enough but being like you? Can’t imagine it."

Blues snorted at that but didn’t disagree, being a robot was certainly a complicated way of living so picturing Aki as a robot in his mind certainly was a humorous thought.

"For me it’s the other way around, I can’t for the life of me understand humans no matter how much I interact with you. I have so many questions you probably would laugh at."

Aki quirked his brow in a challenging manner and Blues sighed then began blurting out his questions as they entered a small woodland.

"Why do you and your siblings look nothing like your parents? I thought I understood how human genetics worked in terms of parents to children. How does one make coffee? I possess advanced artificial intelligence that’s capable of really amazing feats yet I can’t brew a single cup of coffee safe for human consumption! And what is school? I’ve heard Suna mentioned it a few times."

Aki's jaw dropped as the robot boy blurted out all of his frustrations then he did indeed laugh, the duo halted their walk as Aki had to gather himself while Blues spluttered in embarrassment.

"Okay okay...let’s start with the easiest one first: school. School is what children like my siblings and I go to to learn about things like history and science among other subjects. Unlike you we are not preprogrammed with knowledge, we must learn and be taught."

Blues scratched the back of his neck as he digested Aki's explanation of what a school was, the basic concept was clear but Blues couldn’t picture himself in a school setting - as Aki said, he was preprogrammed with all the knowledge they had to learn.

"As for why my family and I don’t share a common resemblance...well, Daini, Suna and I are all adopted. Mom and dad felt they’d already passed the time frame where one usually had children so they decided to adopt instead and that’s how they got us. I might only share a blood connection with my twin but that doesn’t make any of us less family than any other family, it’s the same for you right?"

At this Blues fully agreed, he might not be his dad’s flesh and blood son but he knew he was loved like one and it was the same right back at his dad, Chopin was not even human but she was still very precious to him and he couldn’t imagine life without Auto.

"And finally the coffee...have you ever tasted coffee? If you got a taste then it might solve your problem."

At this Blues waved a dismissive hand, he knew he couldn’t consume human cuisine and his dad had forbidden it anyway.

"Well I’ve extended my sagely wisdom, now I get to ask you plenty of questions."

Aki smirked and threw an arm around Blues who stood at a whole head taller than the human, the robot boy rolled his hazel eyes but nodded since it was only fair to return the favor.

"After we’ve finished our errands."

Blues had to remind his human cousin who groaned at the remainder but knew they had to, Daini needed his prescription.

As they resumed walking through the woodland Blues began to whistle the tune he’d created himself, the breeze blowing through the trees carried the tune farther and let it fade into the wind, overhead birds began to chirp in response as he kept whistling - having no lungs thus not needing to stop for breath was pretty convenient.

One bird in particular, grey and brown in color cried Blues' tune right back to him as it flew down from its perch up in the tall trees to land right on Blues' shoulder. The robot boy dared not touch the bird lest he either hurt it or scare it away, though it stayed oddly put on his shoulder even as he tentatively moved his head to glance at it.

It was a northern mockingbird, known for its song and mimicry.

Aki raised an impressed brow, he’d never been this close to a bird before but he dared not approach it - it was giving him quite the stink eye from its new robotic perch.

Woodland became less sparse as they entered the town of Larssonville to see people walking about on errands of their own or just having fun, Blues allowed Aki to take the lead since the human teen already knew the area well and so they took a left as soon as their shoes touched pavement.

Walking down the whole street they then cut across to the adjacent street and rounded the corner, an open plaza stretched out before them with a fountain shaped like a tree in the very center. On the east side of the plaza the pharmacy sat snuggly between a pet store and a barbershop.

"I’ll go in and get the prescription, it should only take a few minutes."

Aki informed then entered the pharmacy, the bell on the door jingling a little, leaving Blues to wait outside along with his little bird companion. The robot boy paced back and forth for a bit until he found himself staring at the window display of the pet store, hazel eyes stared softly at the litter of baby animals prancing around and playing innocently in their little pen, a few puppies pawed over to the window curiously and gazed up at him with their big eyes.

Blues smiled at the small canines, he could understand why humans loved to have them as companions - their big eyes showed a keen intelligence - though he was perfectly happy with Chopin.

"I wonder what it is like, to be so small and grow up gradually..."

He spoke in a hushed whisper as his fingers gently stroked the head of the mockingbird, the bird chirped happily at his touch - it was so strange, animals seemed to possess no fear for robots at all unlike how they acted towards humans.

Blues stared at the playing animals for a few more minutes until Aki came back out from the pharmacy with the prescription in hand, with that errand crossed off of their little list they set a course towards the nearest grocery store.

"I think granny is making her special shrimp pie for dinner tonight."

Aki commented as he scanned the grocery list when they entered the grocery store, it was located on the north side of the plaza between a bookstore and an electronic store. Blues hummed while trying to make his little bird companion fly off but it kept returning to its perch on his shoulder, after finally giving up the robot boy just rewrapped his scarf around his neck so the bird could be hidden from view.

"We need...cottage cheese, shrimps, flour and butter for the pie."

Once again Blues allowed his cousin to take the lead, he’d been to a grocery store before sure but it would probably be best if a human handled the shopping.

They walked through the aisles uneventfully while making small talk, the mockingbird remained quietly snuggled up to Blues' neck and it almost tickled him a little bit. It was growing more and more apparent however that Larssonville was a small town since a lot of people happily greeted Aki like he’d been there forever while Blues got a lot of inquisitive looks and raised brows.

Once they exited the grocery store the robot boy was more than happy to enter the nearly empty electronics store, few people and familiar territory made him relax once more.

"Excuse me, do you sell E-tanks here?"

Blues walked up to the cashier and asked a young looking employee, perhaps a new worker or a intern.

"E-tanks? Oh yeah...that robot fuel in a can right? Not yet I’m afraid, we are getting a shipment next month though."

Blues frowned sadly, so they would only be able to stay two days after all. It would be sad to leave his human relatives after having just met them, but there was always next year his dad had said.

"Not too many robots around these parts and the ones we have here run on the old fuel, sorry."

Blues waved a dismissive hand and left feeling pretty disheartened, Aki waited outside this time and clapped him on the shoulder when he saw the downcast expression on his cousin’s face.

"So no E-tanks then?"

Blues shook his head in slight dismay as they retreaded their route back into the small woodland area, the robot boy took this opportunity to finally get the mockingbird to leave his side and fly back to its nest.

The mockingbird let out a mimicry of Blues' whistling as the boys walked on ahead, it watched them leave with a tilted head.

"So...I get to ask my questions now, right?"

Blues sighed with some dramatic flair then nodded.

"So, how do you speak different languages so well? How old are you? I need to know for scientific reasons and finally, how strong are you?"

Blues quirked his brow, those questions were fairly simple compared to what he had imagined. Aki waited patiently for him to answer these questions as the country road began to stretch out before them once more.

"I’m programmed with very advanced linguistic capabilities, I can speak every recorded language on the planet. For example: _how do you do?_ "

Blues briefly switched from English to Polish which left Aki in awe.

"As for how old I am, I was activated June 30th this year so...I’m one month and a few days old, though I am programmed to be around the mental age of a teenager with room to mature of course."

In the distance the Light family farm began to take shape, it was nearing lunchtime now so everyone should be gathered inside the dining room.

"And I have not really tested out my strength but I’m pretty sure I could lift a full grown adult without much trouble."

Aki seemed satisfied with the answers he got, they got back onto the farm property and Blues handed the bag of groceries over to Aki who hurried into the house with them leaving Blues to his own devices - maybe he should check on Auto? Wherever he was...

"Not so fast Blues!"

The robot boy had barely taken a few steps before his cousin was back but this time he carried a mug in his hand.

"What’s that?"

Blues asked as he was presented the mug, in his hands it felt warm and the brown liquid inside looked so suspiciously familiar it almost irked him when Aki confirmed that it was indeed coffee.

"Take a sip, it might help you figure out how to brew coffee for uncle Thomas. And no buts! The best teacher is experience."

There was little room for Blues to argue, he knew it was forbidden by his dad but...Aki did have a point - experience was the best teacher. So very hesitantly Blues took a sip.

"Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?"

Blues ending up a motionless heap on the ground while smoke billowed out from his mouth, that’s the worst that could happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Death by coffee, ouch. We’ll be spending some time at the farm so expect a longer chapter next week as well.
> 
> The mockingbird symbolizes playfulness, family unity and communication. How fitting for Blues.
> 
> Sorry if there are a lot of mistakes or if the chapter feels lackluster in places, I’m not currently in the best health but I hope I’ll be fully recovered next week.


	12. Wisdom from different perspectives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has wisdom to give, just lend your ear to them and your world will be richer for it, no matter how nice or dreadful it might be to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hedwig Light, Akira Light, Johannes "Jo" Light, Niels Light (mentioned) and Chopin the Cat (mentioned) belongs to me.
> 
> Warning! This chapter contains mentions and non descriptive reveals of injuries sustained from Child abuse and child neglect, please be wary and proceed with caution.

"I’m not mad, just disappointed."

Dr Light's voice was firm as he wiped burnt coffee stains from his screwdriver, the water basin next to him that once was a clear surface was now a brown murky reflection, some oil stains had gotten onto his jeans.

Blues who was now thoroughly cleaned out and fixed laid on the garden table that had been used as an emergency lab table sighed but nodded in understanding while Aki who stood next to the table with Blues' shirt and yellow scarf folded up in his arms looked rather guilty.

"What possessed you to consume coffee Blues? I thought I was being quite clear when I forbade you from consuming any and all human cuisine."

The scientist laid the now cleaned screwdriver amongst his other cleaned tools in his personal toolbox, Dr Light leaned back on the garden chair he was seated on and fixed his son with a reprimanding look.

"Don’t be too angry with him uncle Thomas, I was the one who gave it to him."

Aki argued as he handed the folded clothing back to the robot boy, Blues silently put his shirt and scarf back on then stood next to his cousin.

"I see, well do please explain to me how this all happened."

Dr Light crossed his arms and patiently waited for the boy’s to explain themselves, he didn’t look angry just frustrated.

"Well I told Aki about my frustrations with coffee and he suggested that I should taste some in order to understand how it should taste."

Blues began to explain while lightly fingering the edges of his yellow scarf, this was the first time he’d ever broken a rule that his dad had set up and he wasn’t sure what Dr Light would do in response.

"He dismissed me at first but then I convinced him to try once we got home, told him experience is the best teacher."

Aki rubbed the back of his head as he explained himself to his uncle who sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, the boys shared a look between each other and waited for the scientist to speak.

"Experience is indeed good but Aki you should’ve asked me before giving Blues the coffee and Blues you should’ve known better."

Dr Light stood up from his seat and planted his hands on their shoulders, his left hand on Aki's shoulder and his right on Blues' shoulder, he gazed down at them both with tired blue eyes and a frown still present on his face.

"I’m not your father Aki so I don’t have the authority to dish out a punishment but Blues you are grounded."

With that piece said Dr Light took his toolbox and walked away leaving the boys silent for a bit until he was for sure out of hearing range then Aki slumped over with a downtrodden sigh while Blues looked utterly confused.

"Grounded? What did he mean by that?"

Blues had heard of the term being used for things that could fly but for the moment could not, but...Blues couldn’t fly or at least not that he was aware of - being able to fly would be cool though. Note to self: consider the ability of flight for future battle armor.

"It means you don’t get to leave the house for a set amount of time, it’s a punishment dished out by parents worldwide since ancient times."

Aki sighed, the human boy did not look forward to whatever punishment his parents would dish out - he knew he could’ve seriously damaged his cousin but still.

"Sounds interesting, I guess I’m getting a taste of the authentic human experience."

Blues spoke aloud while tapping his chin in thought, Aki looked at his cousin like he had said something sacrilege. Aki just shook his head and walked inside to face his doom leaving Blues to his own devices.

"Was it something I said?"

**************

It was much later that day, once the sun had finally set, that Blues found his son at the most unexpected of places. Blues carefully ascended the steel ladder up to the roof of the farmhouse where he found Auto gazing up at the darkening sky.

"The Sky is different out here compared to back home."

The robot boy hummed in acknowledgment as he carefully crawled on the tiles of the roof, once he was next to his son Blues did gaze up as well to see a night sky scattered with small stars and clusters of lights gleaming far away.

"Yeah, back home there are too many lights and pollution to see the night sky properly, I’ve seen the moon but that’s about it. It’s really beautiful."

In perspective it made one feel really small, Blues knew that those stars and lights were just suns burning far away in the expanse of space.

"Do you think aliens exist out there? Like in that movie we watched last night, E.T."

Auto spoke with wonder and awe at the aspect of other intelligent life existing beyond the reaches of their planet and the orbiting moon, beings that might be far more advanced than them or evolved beyond their comprehension.

"It’s egotistical to think we are the only beings in this universe, of course life exists out there, but the question is...what would happen if we made contact with them? Peace and prosperity or misunderstandings and violence?"

The robot boy lamented as they watched a lone star streak across the night sky with a ferocious speed, it’s shimmering blue tail sweeping out into a beautiful wave of glittering aquamarine and hints of gold.

"If anything bad happens then we won’t have to worry, we’ll have Super Blues protecting us."

Auto wiggled his black eyebrows and playfully elbowed his father who groaned in embarrassment, Blues hid his blushing face in his yellow scarf and Auto just laughed jovially. Speaking of his heroic ambitions...

'How should I explain myself to dad? Would he dismiss me completely? Maybe I should ask someone for advice...'

Blues grumbled in his mind as the star completely halted its movement and bounded back the way it came, no less beautiful the whole way.

What odd behavior for a shooting star...

**************

The next morning Blues' punishment was in full effect, he was not allowed to leave the house for the entire day - manageable but a minor annoyance none the less. The robot boy kept himself occupied anyway, with both house chores but also with his own agendas, once more Blues walked down the creaking staircase to the main hall but this time he turned right towards the dining area.

"I’ve taken care of the laundry."

Walking passed the polished wooden dinner table Blues entered the kitchen, the rays of sun poured in through the windows and a light breeze eased it’s way in through the slightly ajar back door, by the kitchen sink stood Akira washing cherry tomatoes. The woman glanced over her shoulder and nodded a thanks before returning to her task.

"Could you bring Daini some tea? Poor boy has come down with some nausea."

Blues went over to the cupboard hanging next to the fridge and searched around for some tea, he’d read in a book how certain teas could ease an upset stomach among other health benefits, eventually he pulled out a box of chamomile tea.

Warming up the water and then pouring it into a mug was easy, timing when to pull out the soaking teabag was a little harder but the recommended 5 minutes seemed fine. Carefully Blues balanced the hot mug in his hand as he returned upstairs and into the hallway with many doors, the twins stayed in the room closest to the stairs.

Gently Blues knocked on the door before entering and he heard shuffling inside before Suna appeared in front of him.

"Your mother asked me to bring some tea for your brother."

The teen girl seemed relieved at that and allowed her robotic cousin inside, the twins' room was a gentle pink in color with dark wooden boards on the floor and a few cardboard boxes stacked in the farthest corner each labeled with either _Aki_ or _Daini_. 

Two beds rested on each side of the room, the one on the right had dark blue covers while the one on the left had butterscotch yellow covers, it was in the bed on the left that Daini Light laid looking utterly miserable. Aki sat in the middle of the floor sorting through comic books, briefly he glanced up to flash Blues a greeting smile before resuming his task.

"Need some help?"

Daini thanked for the offer but stubbornly decided to ease himself up into a sitting position, Blues held out the warm mug for him to take and reminded him to take slow sips.

Daini Light, Aki's older twin brother, was somewhat paler than his sun kissed twin and sported white hair in contrast to Aki's black though it was styled in a similar upswing. Daini's left eye, which was organic, was colored pink while his right one, which was inorganic, was red with a prominent scar running down from his eyebrow down to his cheek.

"Stupid sunlight tripped me up..."

The bedridden teen grumbled in a raspy voice, Blues sat down on the edge of Daini's bed and glanced at the stacked cardboard boxes with a raised brow when he thought he saw them move.

"The Doctor did say that you’d be light sensitive for a while until you’ve fully healed from the operation."

Suna commented as she sat down on the floor next to Aki and snatched up a comic to read, fully ignoring her younger brother’s irritated gaze directed her way. Blues watched the siblings banter amongst each other and felt a twinge of jealousy, it must be nice having siblings.

"Ahhh!"

The robot boy yelped and kicked his legs in reflex when he felt something tap against it, something small squeaked and pawed out from underneath the bed. The small thing quickly jumped over to the teens seated on the floor which gave Blues a chance to see it more clearly.

"It’s alright, it’s Mini, he’s pretty curious by nature."

Aki picked up Mini with one hand, Mini was a rabbit from the looks of it but not a rabbit of fur and flesh - Mini was a robot. The rabbit's main body was a pristine white color with glowing lines of light blue stretching from his stomach to his back, his four paws were black and his little tail was a solid glowing orb, the insides of his small ears glowed light blue and his eyes were black with digital dots in place of pupils.

"Speaking of...Mariachi! Come here girl."

The cardboard boxes rattled as a red hamster robot squeezed her way out from in between them, Mariachi had big green eyes and a dual colored body of red and yellow, the little hamster zipped on over to Suna's waiting hands.

"Robot animals?"

Blues settled back calmly and stared in awe at the two pet robots who climbed around on their respective teen.

"Yup, we got them from the guy who operated on Daini, said their original owners had bailed on them."

Staring at the small robotic critters Blues could not understand why someone would do that, the mere though of leaving Chopin behind made him sick.

Eventually Daini finished the tea and Blues took the mug back then left the siblings to their own devices, returning back to the kitchen he found Akira still there but now putting the cherry tomatoes in a bowl that she had placed on the nearest windowsill in order to dry them up.

"I think the tea helped him a bit."

The robot boy said while washing the mug in the sink.

"That’s good."

Akira dried her hands on a washcloth with a soft smile on her lips, something melancholic washed over her black eyes briefly before it disappeared.

"Why did...he need to replace his eye?"

Blues asked carefully, he almost regretted asking when he felt the atmosphere in the kitchen drop into something uncomfortable and stifling, Akira did not respond for a bit until she sat the damp washcloth aside and turned to Blues with a serious expression.

"It might not be my place to tell and I’m not sure how much you know about the subject, but do you know about child abuse?"

Blues winced at the implications yet nodded hesitantly regardless, his cousin's wife sighed heavily then began speaking.

"Daini, Aki and Suna are all adopted though I suppose you’ve already figured that out, Jo and I felt we were past the stage were one would usually have biological children so we looked into adopting instead. That’s how we stumbled upon those three, We first adopted Suna and then the twins, amongst all the children we were shown those three felt right."

Akira smiled sadly as she recalled when she’d first met her future children, they’d looked so small and scared but also distrustful.

"Suna and her older sister were neglected by their birth parents, never raised their hands against them but never cared for their wellbeing, social workers eventually took them away and placed them in the orphanage. They were stuck at the hip, never ever seen apart, however eventually the older sister got adopted and that broke something in Suna. She cried for hours in the night and lost her appetite."

Blues shuddered at the words, they were vague and likely for his sake but he could still sense the severity in them. He could almost picture a younger Suna sitting huddled in a room all alone and sniffling for her sister.

"When we adopted her we immediately tracked her older sister down and made sure they could always stay in contact, that’s how we earned her trust bit by bit."

The Suna Blues had just been with seemed like a completely different person compared to her younger self, that made the robot boy happy - she’d found happiness.

"Aki and Daini were almost the opposite, their birth parents tormented them and the stress caused Daini to get white hair early. Their birth mother once took a broken glass bottle and...Daini's organic eye did not survive, their birth father would take his cigarettes and...Aki can no longer sleep on his back. The twins were soon taken away after what happened to Daini, when we first met them they ran away from us."

Blues thought back to the prominent scar on his cousin’s face and felt sick, how could someone do that to their own child?

"We persisted though and soon had both of the twins at home with us, it was difficult for a long time - scars both physical and mental don’t heal overnight - for all of us for different reasons but that’s why it’s important to never give up. Trust, love and patience will win out in the end."

Akira gently stroked Blues' auburn locks and smiled softly, her gentle touch washed away the negative emotions in his core.

"Why would they have children if they weren’t going to treat them kindly?"

The robot boy asked softly, once more his understanding of things were flipped on its head. He thought he’d grown to understand humans but now it seemed like he was back on square one.

"That’s the million dollar question isn’t it? I don’t know and I don’t think I want to know either, this world is already so confusing and too evil to bear sometimes - but as long as we have some shred of happiness to hold onto, we should clutch it tightly."

Blues nodded at these words of wisdom and Akira pecked him on the forehead before leaving out the back door, the robot boy was left to his own devices once more.

'Damn it, I never got to ask about how to make my case to dad...'

Blues scolded himself mentally as he left the dining area and entered the living room area, the door to the left of the staircase, where he found Johannes "Jo" Light himself watering some potted plants by the couch.

"Enjoying being grounded?"

Jo asked teasingly, Jo was a tall lanky man with wispy copper red hair and turquoise eyes, his face absolutely covered in freckles. Blues mock laughed in response and sat down on the grey colored couch, on the couch's low table rested stacks of paper and a dark brown colored typewriter.

"Yours?"

Jo glanced up from the plants then nodded when he saw Blues gesturing towards his typewriter.

"It’s mostly a hobby, moving here has kinda pushed my writing to a stalemate. Though once we’re all settled in I hope to start again."

Placing the green watering can aside Jo joined his uncle's son on the couch and patted his typewriter lovingly, almost like how one would pet an animal.

"You’re not just visiting?"

Jo shook his head and slumped down, his gaze directed at the myriad of paintings decorating the wall opposite of the couch. Paintings of people and landscapes, beautifully illustrated in soft colors and acrylic.

"Nope, grandmother is getting too old to take care of this place all by herself and I would hate to see this place given away to a bunch of strangers. So we are moving here, so far it seems Akira and the kids are adjusting well to my childhood home."

Blues digested the meaning of his cousin’s words and realization dawned on him, perhaps sooner than it ought to have, Jo was uncle Niels' son. No wonder the robot boy upon seeing Jo's face for the first time had felt it familiar, it bore a great resemblance to his own.

"If you grew up here then...you must know my dad well."

This could be his chance!

"I suppose, my uncle was like an older brother to me and we did lots of stuff together."

That’s precisely what Blues wanted to hear, Jo probably knew then how to discuss things with Dr Light.

"You see, there is something I want to do but I know my dad would disapprove, so I want some advice on how to win him over."

Jo hummed in thought and tapped his knee absentmindedly before snickering much to the surprise of Blues.

"Personally, I think you should do it regardless of what your dad might feel. I don’t know much if anything about robotics but I do know a thing or two about pursuing goals, if you want to get there you gotta get there regardless of what other people might think. Besides, you are your own being - you have that right to decide over your own life."

It sounded so simple when his cousin worded it like that, but being a robot and a fully sentient robot at that things were never that simple.

"That might work for a human but I’m a robot, I need my creator's permission."

When Blues said it out loud like that it felt somewhat bitter on his lips, in theory he did have the right to decide over himself since he was fully sentient but in reality he was a robot bound by the laws of robotics.

"Doesn’t sound like a father-son relationship to me then, sounds almost like you’re a servant needing to ask his master for permission to do anything."

That made Blues freeze up, he was no servant and Dr Light was not his master! Though...from an outsiders perspective it might look like that since Blues does do most of the chores at home and he does do whatever his dad asks of him without thinking twice.

Had he ever said no to his dad...?

"As for your main question, you should go ask your grandma. She knows her son best and can probably give you tons of advice. She’s out in her greenhouse as always."

Blues was troubled as he stood up to leave, it must’ve been visible on his face since Jo grabbed his arm to halt him.

"Sorry if I said things that upset you, I’ve never been that good with people's emotions you see."

The man spoke earnestly as he motioned for the robotic boy to look at him once again, troubled hazel met concerned turquoise briefly before Blues recovered from his state and nodded in reassurance.

"It’s okay, our talk actually broadened my view of things, thank you."

With that Blues walked out into the main hall and approached the front door, his fingers grazed the doorknob before hesitation struck. He was grounded he reminded himself, he was forced to stay inside as punishment for his accident yesterday, his dad had forbidden him from going outside essentially.

Since it was forbidden he should not go against-no! He needed help and his grandma was outside so he had to go outside to find her, his fingers grasped the doorknob firmly.

"I’m not a servant..."

Blues muttered to himself as he opened the front door to bask in sunlight and the fresh breeze, taking a step out of the doorframe he felt a form of excitement bubble in his core. He’d just actively gone against his dad!

Carefully his hazel eyes scanned the property of the farm to make sure Dr Light was nowhere to be seen before quickly sneaking around the side of the farmhouse and approaching the greenhouse, Blues saw his grandma moving about inside and alone too.

When he stepped into the greenhouse he was greeted with an absolute jungle of different plants, vegetables and spices and flowers.

"Grandma?"

A gloved hand waved from the furthest corner to the right and Blues hurried over to see his grandma once again donning her straw hat and gardening gloves, her wooden sandals clanked on the stone floor as she slowly moved about.

"Need something dear?"

Her voice was soft and kind, her green gaze focused on a stalk of sunflowers as her hands worked to trim away unnecessary leaves and invasive roots.

"I need some advice, I want to convince my dad to allow me to do something I know he wouldn’t approve of."

Hedwig nodded in understanding and placed her small clippers aside then turned her full attention onto her youngest grandchild.

"Troublesome indeed, Tommy is very set in his ways and can be very hard to reason with at times but there is a trick you see. You must think as him, get into his head and pick out the concerns you know he would have then find a reasonable solution to them that would satisfy both of you."

Blues nodded with each word, this was just the type of advice he’d been looking for! Getting into his dad’s head would be easy, he already had the major concerns in mind though how to sate them would take some thinking.

"Will it work?"

At that Hedwig just grinned cheekily then nodded.

"That’s how I convinced your father that becoming a cowboy at the age of 5 would not be the wisest career move."

Blues could not help bursting into laughter at the thought of a much more youthful Hedwig crouching down to her child's level and making a serious argument like that with a pouting Thomas Light glaring up at her.

"Good thing I did, otherwise you would probably never have been built."

Blues agreed fully with that, he was happy to be alive though...how free he was as an individual was now up for debate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blues says no to child abuse, child neglect and animal abandonment and so should you.
> 
> A slightly longer chapter this time than last weeks but next chapter we are beginning the journey back to Japan, thus we won’t see the rest of the Light family for a while and so I wanna talk a bit about them.
> 
> I named the original characters after real life people in the same vein that Dr Light is named after Thomas Edison, Hedwig Light is named after actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr who invented an early version a guidance system for torpedoes, Nikola Light is obviously named after Nikola Tesla worked with alternating electrical currents, Niels Light is named after Niels Bohr who made significant contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, Johannes "Jo" Light is named after Johannes Gutenberg who introduced printing to Europe and finally Akira Light is named after Akira Yoshino who won the Nobel price in chemistry 2019 for developing the lithium-ion battery.
> 
> Small little thing but Mini is basically Mega Mini from Mega Man Fully Charged and Mariachi comes from one of the short circuit comics in Archie Comics Mega Man.


	13. Disruptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the first taste of heroism is a bitter one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chopin the cat (mentioned), Hedwig Light, Akira Light and Johannes "Jo" Light belong to me.
> 
> The time has come to make good on that warning tag of graphic depictions of violence, at least its the only warning tag available that could apply to this chapter.
> 
> Warnings for blood, injury, gore and background death. Proceed with caution if any of that makes you uncomfortable.

_The birds cried overhead and the sun was already high in the sky when the distant roar of a train washed over the small train station of Larssonville, on the platform stood a gathered group of seven humans and two robots. It was too beautiful a day to be feeling this sad, right Blues?_

_"Call us when you get back home."_

_Hedwig was smiling though her green eyes reflected motherly concern for her son and his robotic family. Dr Light smiled reassuringly at his elderly mother and hugged her warmly with the wordless promise of doing just that once they reached Japan._

_"Don’t forget to come back here for Christmas, it’d be so nice to have the whole family gathered."_

_Akira said hopefully while her husband Jo nodded in full agreement, they looked less concerned than Hedwig - they figured nothing bad would happen to any of you. Aki, Suna and Daini who was wearing sunglasses approached Auto and you instead of Dr Light._

_"It was fun cuz, try not to get into any trouble 'kay?"_

_Suna clapped you on the shoulder with a laugh and a teasing glint in her deep green eyes, you smirked teasingly right back at her with a raised brow._

_"I make no promises."_

_You said and Suna shoved you lightly before stepping aside so the twins could say goodbye to you as well, Aki tried looking all nonchalant about you all leaving but both Daini and you could see he was a little dejected to see you all leave so soon._

_"Nice having you all here I guess."_

_Aki muttered though Daini lightly elbowed him to say goodbye properly._

_"Right right, it was really neat having you both around. Though next time I see you both I hope you’ll teach me some basic mechanics Auto, would be extremely useful in case anything breaks, and as for you Blues...I hope you’ll have gotten more of that 'authentic human experience' you spoke of."_

_Aki held out his hand and you grasped it tightly with a roll of your hazel eyes, was he going to hold that statement over your head forever? Probably._

_"You bet!"_

_Auto and you said in unison, both of you wearing a smile, Aki let go of your hand then did a friendly high five with your son. Daini didn’t say anything after his brother had finished his piece, a boy of few words you figured, though he did show a small smile and nodded at you both._

_The train screeched to a halt and you all quickly got on, Dr Light handled the tickets while Auto and you found seats by the windows, you saw them all waving farewell as the train began pulling out of the station once more. It was sad to leave this place but you knew it was time to go._

**REBOOTING CRUCIAL SYSTEMS**

_You watched tall trees pass by in a blur as the train picked up speed, Auto fiddled with a travel brochure next to you and your dad sat right across from you. Dr Light was fiddling with his cellphone, no doubt making sure your journey home went off without a hitch._

**WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!**

_The rays of sun felt so nice as they brushed against your synthetic skin, you closed your eyes and rested your head against the lukewarm window._

**SEVERE DAMAGE SUSTAINED TO BODY FRAME**

_It’s time to wake up Blues._

**OIL LEAKAGE DETECTED INTERNALLY**

_You have to wake up._

**REBOOTING PROCESS AT 53%**

_Please, open your eyes._

**REBOOTING PROCESS AT 97%...100%!**

_Blues..._

**REBOOTING SUCCESSFUL! DLN-000 COMING BACK ONLINE...**

Alarms blared in a chaotic cacophony inside his CBU when Blues groaned awake, his vision was unfocused and occasionally static disrupted his sight, every part of his body hurt and the alarms in his head lovingly reminded him of how much damage his body had sustained.

"D-d-daaaaaad? Autoooo...?"

When he spoke his voice quivered and hitched with hisses, his voice box being one of the areas damaged, his broken voice was weak and no response came - not that he could hear that well over the static coming from his left audio receptor.

Slowly his hazel eyes gained focus and he saw a shattered window frame hovering over him, pieces of metal hung precariously above him as a warning that they could soon fall and impale him. He tried moving his limbs but their response was weak, his entire lower body was trapped under a broken heap that used to be seats.

How had he ended up like this?

*************

"This will be the last train hop we do before reaching Washington DC."

Dr Light said as he helped Auto place their luggage inside the baggage compartment overhead, they’d already done four train hops since leaving both Larssonville then Minnesota behind them and it was getting tiresome in Blues' opinion. Looking outside he saw humans milling about outside on the train platform, some running to catch their trains before they departed while some walked idly by in waiting for the arrival of their trains and some sat on the benches likely waiting to meet someone.

The scientist and green robot mechanic sat down in their own seats, Auto tapped his white fingers on the arms of his seat impatiently while Dr Light once more fiddled with his cellphone. The train doors closed and the train began pulling out with a lurch.

"Will we spend the whole flight home in the baggage compartment again?"

Blues asked his dad bitterly without looking away from the landscape zipping by them, Dr Light stopped looking at his cellphone and sighed.

"Yes, sadly it’ll be that way again."

Blues frowned while Auto slumped slightly in his seat dejectedly, both robots did not look forward to being shoved back into that cramped space for 15 hours again but knew there was no other way.

The robot boy did look forward to returning home to Japan, all the staring got old quickly and having to worry about their E-tank supply was stressful, and finally getting to reunite with Chopin - he’d been away from her for far too long. Though returning home meant something else too.

"Dad...when we get back home to Japan, there is something important I want to talk to you about."

Dr Light blinked in confusion upon those vague and ominous words coming from his son, Blues looked at his dad with a very serious expression on his face and the human wondered what it was his son wanted to speak about.

"Of course...though why wait so long? Can’t we speak about it here and now?"

Dr Light asked with a raised brow and an uneasy smile, Blues just shook his head and the scientist sighed - whatever this was that his boy wanted it must be important to him.

"Very well, then we’ll discuss it when we are home."

With that piece said the family of three went quiet and just enjoyed the peace as best as they could, the bustle of the people around them made it hard though. Loud discussions being heard across the aisle, a baby crying further up ahead and a few teens laughing hysterically.

Blues tried to tune it all out as his hazel gaze once more found its way out the window, the natural landscape was slowly turning from woodlands to scarcely populated rural communities and that meant the city edges were not too far ahead now.

The train bumped and swayed on the train tracks rhythmically, the robot boy sighed tiredly and checked his internal clock, wouldn’t the ride be over soon?

The train screeched so loudly it was painful and swayed erratically, disgruntled passengers were thrown around on their seats and then it was like the gravity left - Blues literally felt his body lift from his seat - until it came back full force from the right and the entire train car did a loop.

It all happened so quickly, screams and crashes of metal intermingled with shattering of glass. Blues was flung around like a weightless rag doll and then he slammed down on solid ground like a hard weight, he barely had time to register anything before rubble rained down upon his form like a rainstorm out of Hell.

His entire being and mind shut down before the chaos around him settled down.

**************

'That’s right...did the train derail and crash?'

Cautiously Blues looked around to try and identify where on the train he was, from the broken mess around him it looked like the train car he’d been riding in had landed with its left side down and he must thus be laying on said left side.

What should he do now? Logically he should wait to be rescued but how long would that take? Had any emergency responders even arrived yet? He couldn’t hear anything so either the answer was no or his audio receptors were too broken to be used.

'So I should just wait then...'

The robot boy laid there quietly and stared up at what was now the ceiling, a few rays of sunlight poured out through the shattered glass windows but other than that it was so dark and cramped it felt claustrophobic.

Warnings kept blaring in his head but there was little he could do, he wasn’t strong enough to free himself from the rubble trapping him and even if he was it wouldn’t be wise to exert himself in his current state.

"Too...w-w-weak..."

He stuttered out brokenly to himself, if he was in this sorry of a state then he feared how badly off his son and dad were - Auto could possibly survive but Dr Light was a frail human...

A metallic screech echoed above him and glass shards rained down upon his face, the sun glared down upon him like a spotlight until a shadow fell upon him. Blues squinted to make out what it was until he gasped in shock.

The figure clad in shadows stood proudly against the light, their body was slightly smaller than his and bulkier around the limbs but that iconic double spiked hair he would’ve recognized anywhere. His mind must be seriously damaged.

For staring down at him was the silhouette of his hero, Astro Boy.

_"Blues, what are you doing? Free yourself."_

The specter of his mind spoke with a youthful voice that had a twinge of sternness in it, the robot boy stumbled over his words but eventually stuttered them out.

"Too weak...I c-can’t..."

The specter slowly shook his head then crouched down slightly by the open hole, Blues wished the sun would get out of his eyes so he could see for certain whether he’d really gone insane due to brain damage or not.

_"Nonsense, the strength dwelling inside of you is unlike any other - do not doubt yourself! Stand up Blues, believe in yourself the same way you have always believed in me."_

It was crazy to think but Blues could almost hear the smile in the specter's voice when he spoke such encouraging words to him.

_"You are DLN-000, Blues Light, you are the prototype of every Robot Master that will come after you. Their strengths will be inspired by yours, so show them exactly who it is they should be inspired by!"_

Blues felt his core bubble with an unknown emotion, courage? Hope? Faith?

_"Blues, everyone who are still alive on this train need you. They need a hero, be that hero, be the hero I know you can be."_

The specter stood up once more and in the blink of an eye he was gone, Blues squinted up at the glaring sun but could no longer see the silhouette of his hero. Had Astro Boy really been there? No, it was all in his head...

But he’d been right, what was he doing just laying here!? People needed him! Auto and Dr Light needed him! He did not have the luxury of doubting his strength.

Slowly Blues twisted his left arm to see how stuck it was, the limb responded slowly but did after a few tugs wiggle out from the metal it had been stuck under and after repeating the same process with his right arm Blues now had his two hands free.

With gritted teeth he gripped onto the rubble trapping his legs and pushed with everything he had, the rubble was flung away after a good minute of pushing. Blues could barely believe it.

On wobbly legs he rose to a stand and with quivering arms he gripped onto the torn up wall then began to climb like his life depended on it, the sunlight grew harsher as he neared the ceiling.

With a gasp and a heave Blues was free of his train prison, taking a minute to get his bearings the robot boy looked around to see the absolute chaos going on around him.

The train laid on its side a far length away from the torn up train tracks, the front of the train was up in flames and black smoke billowed out of the train car directly at the front - Blues grimly realized that no passengers in that car could’ve survived. Numerous dents and buckles littered the rest of the train, the damage grew more lenient the further back from the front one went, some parts of the train had been ripped open to reveal its messy insides.

Emergency response teams were running around like busy ants, firefighters combated the fire raging up on the front while paramedics desperately tended to wounded people and gathered the remains of the dead.

Blues saw how they struggled to get inside the train and knew what he had to do, slowly he stood and walked across the massacred train.

"Kid! Get down from here, it’s dangerous!"

They cried once they caught sight of his miserable looking form shuffling towards them, the robot boy ignored them and kneeled down by the door they’d been trying to open. Blues raised his fist then slammed it down hard on the train door, glass shattered and the metal got a decently shaped dent in it.

The humans gaped at him as he forced the door off of its frame, Blues then lowered himself down with little protest from the stunned humans.

"H-h-hello?"

He called out into the rubble inside, a weak reply came from deeper inside and a blood covered hand waved limply. The robot boy hastily crawled over to see a girl in her late teens with orange red hair and eyes as grey as steel, her clothes were torn up and blood was leaking out from her upper bicep where pieces of glass and shrapnel had dug its way into her flesh.

"Can you stand?"

Blues tried to keep his voice as steady as possible as he offered his hands for her to take, shakily she nodded and grabbed his hands. Carefully he helped her over to the opened up ceiling and thankfully the humans were there ready to receive her.

"My friend...she’s stuck back there, please help her out."

The robot boy hurriedly handed the girl over to the paramedics then crawled back further into the rubble all the while calling out for anyone still alive, he pushed aside the remains of a baby’s stroller when he heard a weak cough.

Following the cough to its origin Blues found another girl in her late teens, this girl had brown skin and disgruntled dark pink hair, her dark brown eyes stared blearily up at Blues who winced when he saw the rubble trapping her limbs.

"Don’t move, I’m here to rescue you."

The girl gasped short breathes as Blues crouched down by her side, blood was starting to gather in puddles around her arms and legs - that was not a good sign.

"S-Simone?"

Blues did not know anyone named Simone but he assumed that she was calling out for her friend that he’d just rescued, she slurred her words slightly.

"She’s safe, she asked me to find you - now I have to take a look..."

Carefully the robot boy hunched down until he was almost touching the ground with his head then he focused his optics to zoom in on her left arm under the rubble, a sharp piece of a broken handlebar was lodged into her elbow from the side and the other end was peeking out from the broken surface of her skin.

Carefully climbing over her body he inspected her right arm to find it partially severed by the bicep, blood and pieces of flesh hung from the nearly severed limb while a shattered tip of her arm bone poked out.

Her left leg was no better, it was bent into a mangled corkscrew at the kneecap while a fleshy stump was all that remained of her left foot. Finally her right leg was completely crushed under a heavy piece of debris.

"Your limbs...I can’t..."

Blues was trembling, he’d never seen such gore before in his still short life - it was like looking at living mincemeat. She was losing blood at an alarming rate and she needed medical attention NOW, but he couldn’t free her fast enough by lifting each limb free at a time - even his above human strength had a limit - and even then who was to say that she’d survive such an outdrawn ordeal?

"I... I can’t move them...are they...?"

Her brown eyes wide in horror stared into his hazel ones and he only nodded somberly, the poor girl hiccuped in despair and began to cry weakly. Blues did not know what to do, well technically he did - free her but how?

Her limbs could not be saved and freeing them would waste precious minutes so...

"Miss, what’s your name?"

His voice was steady despite how heavy his core felt, if he had been built with the ability to vomit he would’ve keeled over and wretched, his fingers shakily searches around the debris for a sharp and sturdy looking piece of metal.

"R-Rosie...Roslyn Krantz."

His grip was trembling once he found a piece that fit the criteria.

"Miss Krantz, how old are you? Do you go to school?"

Roslyn was wearing knee high jeans shorts with a leather belt and Blues carefully removed the belt without causing her discomfort.

"I’m 17...I’m set to graduate high school next year..."

Blues decided to go for the left arm first, gently sliding the buckle under her arm he tightened it until it was sufficiently numbing the rest of her arm.

"My...my pocket, left one."

Sliding a hand down and fishing out a small object Blues found a lighter in his palm, it was bubblegum pink with a cute floral design on it. Was it hers? It didn’t really matter, this would help in sealing the wounds.

"Simone's, trying to help her kick the habit..."

They must be good friends, Blues set the lighter aside until it was needed then made Roslyn bite into her short sleeved polo shirt. It would be extremely problematic if she bit her tongue off due to the pain.

The robot boy held the sharp metal in his hands and already felt remorse even before he plunged it down into the skin of her arm, her muffled screams cried out next to him as he kept stabbing through the layers of flesh and muscle until finally amongst the oozing blood the whiteness of bone began to glimpse through.

Shattering the bone went like a snap, in his blood covered hands anyways, and soon he fumbled with the lighter now slick with blood in his hands. The smell of burnt flesh was putrid and acidic, Roslyn kept screaming next to him, but it did stop the bleeding once the stump was thoroughly burnt and tender.

It almost sickened him when he felt relief that the right arm was easier to severe then the left, blood was now splattered onto his clothes from having to try and shake some of it off of his hands. The legs gave way without much struggle and soon Roslyn laid groaning weakly in splattered puddles of her own blood while her new stumps still had tendrils of smoke coming from them.

"I’m so sorry..."

Blues sobbed when he gently picked up her significantly lighter body and cradled it close while hurriedly leaving the horrid remains of what he’d done, Roslyn only moaned weakly in response - no strength left to vocalize any words.

The paramedics gasped in horror once Blues returned to them with Roslyn in his arms, they scrambled to carefully load her out of the train and off towards whatever help was waiting to ease her pain, Blues dared not look to see whatever became of her but his gut twisted with guilt when he heard what sounded like Simone's hysterical cries echo in the distance.

He couldn’t linger any longer lest he collapse, he had to find his family.

**************

Dr Light's vision was blurry and unfocused when he regained consciousness, his head felt light but was also spinning at the same time and the taste of bile was washing over his tongue. What had happened? Where was he? And why did his head feel like it had been split open like a festive piñata?

"G-g-g-gramps?"

The scratchy static of a voice sounded out above him and he cringed, it sounded so loud! Weakly he blinked and tried to focus, a pair of flickering red lights gazed down at him and his breath hitched.

Auto was hovering over him like a protective barrier against what looked like a pile of broken seats and metallic debris, the pile groaned and screeched as it tried to weigh down on his grandson. Auto's eyes were both cracked and his white underbite hung from his face on thin wires, his left arm was completely gone from its socket and his stomach was dented in numerous places while his legs stood weakly on mangled joints.

"Train...off rails...pops...gone...."

Auto could barely say anything in his damaged state, Dr Light gasped in distress and slowly looked around him to find nothing but ruins of what once had been the train they’d mere moments ago been riding in. The scientist could not see any other people around them but that was to be expected, the train had collapsed into itself and likely crushed everyone around them, if Auto hasn’t protected him then he would be dead.

Moving even a slightest bit made him feel waves of nausea crash over him like tidal waves, judging by his symptoms the scientist suspected he was suffering from a concussion. His right arm hurt, it might be broken, and his chest ached with each breath he took, any of his ribs could either be broken or bruised.

He was injured but he was alive, he’d gotten lucky.

Auto hissed above him and wobbled slightly, the weight he was shouldering swayed and screeched, one of his leg joints was quivering dangerously. The strain was becoming too much for him to bear.

"Auto-"

Dr Light whispered pathetically but was shushed by a scratchy breath from the green robot mechanic.

"Don'...worry I-I———I.C chip...replaceable...I’m....replaceable..."

The human's heart hurt with each word his robotic grandson forced out of his mouth, Dr Light raised his none injured arm and gently placed his hand upon Auto's stomach hatch.

"Not to me."

Auto's eyes flickered briefly and his hanging underbite swayed slightly, was he trying to smile?

The pile on Auto’s shoulders screeched louder and sunlight started pouring through small cracks, even slivers of light made Dr Light wince. Above them they heard muffled sounds and voices, Dr Light dared to call out.

"Anybody there?"

The noises got louder in response and Auto wobbled dangerously as the weight pressing down on him dwindled down, he collapsed at Dr Light's feet once a whole bunch of light and fresh air washed over them both.

"D-Dad! Son!"

Dr Light shielded his eyes with a painful groan but his quivering lips quirked into a weak smile, Blues! That was his boy’s voice, it was scratchy but still recognizable to his ears, other voices drew nearer as well and soon Dr Light was gently being transferred onto a stretcher by paramedics. His head was spinning even more now and he felt the urge to heave.

His blue eyes teared up as he was carted out of the train, he couldn’t see glimpses of his boy through the swimming world around him and Dr Light moaned tiredly.

"He’s bleeding from a head wound, be careful."

A distant voice spoke above him as the sunlight was replaced with the roof of an ambulance, the scientist closed his eyes and drifted back off into the world of unconsciousness.

'Be safe my boys.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Blues, the first traumatic event in his life...and not the last one either. Also Roslyn and Simone make their first appearances in the series.
> 
> Boy howdy was I excited to write this chapter and I bet it shows due to how long it is, over 4 000 words! Definitely the longest thing I’ve written to date for this series, next chapter I promise will be shorter and more of a breather before we officially return to Japan for the last stretch of this story! Yup, the end is now in sight and I’m a little sad about it.


	14. The bumpy road towards home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week has passed since that faithful day yet it still feels so fresh in their minds and bodies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betty Krantz and Matías Krantz belong to me.

"Thank you very much, have a good day."

The automatic doors slid open and Blues stepped out from the electronics store with two full bags in each hand, the sky was cloudy today, the robot boy crossed the last item off of his shopping list and began walking down the street back towards the hospital.

Passing by a big display window stocked with a bunch of TVs he heard the news anchor speaking slowly.

_"A week has passed since the unexpected crash of the Apollo Railstar, 400 passengers and 7 employees were onboard the train when it crashed. Roughly 150 passengers and 3 employees walked away with minor injuries while another 100 passengers and 2 employees were left with severe injuries, the death toll has reached 52 deaths so far and may yet rise. Railstar R &L Transportation has decommissioned the crashed train and have confirmed a replacement named Hades Railstar..."_

A week already? For Blues it still felt like yesterday, the screams tearing through his audio receptors, the blood soaking his hands, the smell of burnt flesh...

He shuddered and walked faster, his hands trembling at the memories flashing in his mind like cruel recordings. The voice of the news anchor faded into the other sounds of the Washington DC streets, the edge of the street panned out towards the main entrance of the Central Cherry Hospital.

The white building stood quietly before him as he entered the main reception, staff accompanying patients or visitors roamed about on the floor as Blues passed them by without being noticed. He’d roamed around this hospital for a whole week now, the staff must’ve stopped caring about his presence.

Today they would finally be allowed to leave, much to their collected relief.

The elevator stopped on the third floor and the robot boy disembarked then turned left towards his dad’s room, the corridor was silent save for muffled noises coming from other rooms occupied by patients.

Dr Light's room was numbered 404 and was the last door to be found in this particular hallway, Blues grabbed the door handle and made to pull it down though halted when he heard multiple voices inside that neither belonged to his dad or his son.

Cautiously he entered to find a bunch of humans gathered by Dr Light's bedside while Auto sat in the armchair placed in a corner of the room, the green robot mechanic was currently in sleep mode.

"Ah Blues my boy! Perfect timing, there are some people here to see you."

The robot boy blinked in confusion, he was about to open his mouth to ask who was here but was interrupted by someone suddenly dashing over to him and pulling him into a tight hug. Blues stumbled a bit but regained his bearings enough to recognize the dark purple hair and deep green eyes staring at him.

"Suna?"

The teen girl smiled happily at him despite how her eyes looked a bit watery and she pulled him into another tight hug.

"Thank you, thank you so much."

Suna's voice cracked a bit as she spoke but the absolute relief that dripped from each word made it clear how happy she was, Blues was happy to see his cousin again but why was she here?

"Um...your welcome? Though I’m not quite sure what I did..."

She broke the one sided hug and rubbed her happy tears out of her eyes before responding to him, while she did that Blues took the opportunity to put his two shopping bags down.

"You saved my big sister’s life."

The robot boy blinked once then twice before he looked over to the other humans watching him, Dr Light laid on his hospital bed with his right arm in a cast and a now visible scar stitched up on his forehead though despite this he looked very proudly upon his son.

The other two humans were a man and a woman. The woman had dark brown skin and light blue eyes, her hair was styled in a buzz cut with a dusty blue coloring at the tips of her naturally black hair strands, she was tall with a warm smile on her. The man was a good head shorter than the woman, he had dusty almond colored skin and misty grey eyes, his hair was very curly and Blues could spot a puffy bun of hair behind his head.

The man was resting his hands on the handles of a wheelchair and Blues nearly collapsed when he saw who was sitting in the wheelchair, it was Roslyn Krantz. The girl looked considerably better than the last time he’d seen her but she still looked rather pale and had bags under her eyes, her hair that had reached past her shoulders one week ago now looked freshly cut to the bottom of her jaw.

Worst of all were the bandaged stumps he could peek through the empty sleeves of her hospital gown.

"Hello, we didn’t get properly acquainted last time. I’m Roslyn Krantz and this is my mother Betty and my father Matías, and you’re named Blues right?"

Blues stared dumbly at the seated girl for quite a while before nodding slowly, how could she smile at him like she was doing now after what he’d done to her?

"I never got to thank you for saving both my life and Simone's - took a while to find you, you see."

Roslyn chuckled weakly to herself and Blues clenched his fists until they trembled, he bowed his head then spoke.

"How can you...after what I did to you...?"

The robot boy stared down at the floor with a trembling gaze, he dared not look up. He did not deserve to be thanked for the bloody act he’d committed, was she too traumatized to realize she’d never be able to walk again or that she would never be able to hold anything again?

"Young man, look at me."

A warm hand gripped his shoulder and he slowly dared to look up only to meet the gaze of who he now knew was Roslyn’s mother, Betty Krantz.

"You saved my daughter’s life, had you not been there then she might not have survived to be rescued. I understand that the manner in which you had to save her was unpleasant and I will not blame you for feeling haunted, but know that you are our hero and that we are forever in your debt."

Her words were firm but Blues felt the gratitude and love radiating off of every word, she pulled him into a warm embrace before stepping aside to allow her husband Matías Krantz to come up to Blues as well. The man smiled as well then pressed his fingers into his ears before speaking, Blues realized he was adjusting a pair of hearing aids.

"Like my wife said, you are our hero. If our little girl had died then I’m not sure what I would've done so thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Matías hugged the robot boy warmly and he even patted him on the back before returning to his place by his daughter’s wheelchair.

Blues was stunned silent, he wasn’t sure what to say in response to their gratitude and warm words, he could weakly register Suna holding his hand comfortingly and then Roslyn spoke up once more.

"I know I should be sad over the loss of my limbs and I am, believe me I am, but I am just so happy to be alive right now. I understand if you’d deny it but when you carried me out of that train you were my savior, so thank you for saving my life."

Blues slowly let his hand slip out of Suna’s then with trembling legs he approached the wheelchair bound girl, all words he attempted to say died at his lips before he could even utter them - she was right, he did not feel like a savior of anyone when he gazed upon her small form yet...

The robot boy pulled Roslyn into a shaky embrace, one which she could not return.

"I wish I could’ve gotten you out of there in one piece, I’ll probably never stop feeling bad about it but still...thank you."

Dr Light gently reached out and placed a warm hand on Blues' shoulder, the scientist was glad to see his boy in slightly better spirits - the past week had been painful for all of them. Slowly Blues broke the hug and his hazel eyes bore some sparks of hope.

"I don’t know how much this might help but I met this professor last month who seems to specialize in robotic prosthetics, I saw his newest work and it was so amazing, his name is Yuriy Oblast and he is the head of this university in Russia."

Roslyn blinked silently as Blues rambled a bit, she looked up at her parents who shared a look before nodding with slight uncertainty.

"We’ll look into it, my little sister has already spoken to me about him actually. Apparently he’s the guy who gave her younger brother his new robotic eye."

Blues thought back to Daini as he’d last seen him on the train station, that had been Professor Oblast's work as well?

"Who knows, next time we met I might be able to shake your hand."

Roslyn laughed heartily and Blues couldn’t help but crack a slight smile right back at her, slowly Matías began to wheel his daughter towards the door and Betty followed soon after bidding the Light family a good day. Suna followed out of the door and closed it behind her with a slight wave and a smile.

Blues felt a bit shaky and had to sit down next to his sleeping son, Auto was almost fully repaired after all the damaged he’d sustained during the train crash, his core felt fluttery and trembly at the same time.

"I’m very proud of you my boy, you saved lives despite being so badly damaged yourself."

Dr Light sighed still with a proud smile on his face but his left fist trembled in his lap, proud as he was the sight of his boy and grandson in such damaged states deeply haunted him.

'I never want to see either of you in that sort of state again, not if I have any way of preventing it. I never want to see either of you in that sort of danger again, I’ll protect you both - I promise I will.'

The unspoken words in Dr Light's mind were heavy with fear but also strengthened by his love for the two robots sitting across from him in the hospital room, his resolve was as hard as the metal they were made out of. He watched Blues shake Auto out of sleep mode then happily replace his damaged eyes with brand new ones.

‘As your father and grandfather, I promise I will.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised this chapter is considerably shorter and calmer compared to the previous one, a little breather before we return to Japan!
> 
> Making Roslyn and Suna sisters came from when I looked up what the latter looked like and I noticed how alike they look, it’s pretty much the situation with Auto's backstory all over again.
> 
> Though this chapter was short it was still very important for the future, both immediate and distant.


	15. Home again, once more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She’d been waiting for them to come back for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chopin the Cat and next door neighbor Kitamura (though pretty much just a extremely minor character) belong to me.
> 
> A chapter entirely in Chopin’s perspective, why? Just because I felt like it.
> 
> A major announcement at the end of this chapter that pertains to the future of Mega Man Mixing, please do read it!

The August sun kissed the warm windowsill gently as Chopin laid curled up upon it, her tail moved about lazily and her ears twitched at every sound that came from the outside, she was not truly asleep just enjoying the sunlight while she waited for them to return for her.

She’d waited for quite some time, a little worried once the promised time of return had passed without seeing them outside the window.

In the begin the cat would wander about in this house she’d been left at, the owner who cared for her was a kind man whom she recognized as her family’s next door neighbor - she’d see him sometimes in his backyard tending to his berry bushes some of which she’d swiped a snack from before in the past on multiple occasions.

But once that one phone call was received she’d begun to wait by the window that faced the front of the house, her caretaker had told her mournfully about an accident that had occurred and that her family would not return for a while longer.

Every day since then she’d gazed out in hope to see her scientist, her favorite robot boy and her favorite climbing tower.

Again her ears twitched when she picked up the sound of voices approaching, the voices rang familiar to her and she dared to lift her head to gaze out. Approaching the front door was her family!

At once Chopin felt energy returning to her and she hastily sprung from her warm perch, in mere seconds she’d dashed towards the closed door and pawed at it desperately. Her happy cries must’ve alerted her caretaker since he too was soon by the door fiddling with it’s lock, he looked relieved and then opened the door a sliver with a smile.

The feline slipped out like lightning and happily bumped into the legs of her scientist, the old man smiled down at her and scooped her up into his warm arms, Chopin purred as she nuzzled her furry cheek against his furless one but her happy mood changed when she spotted his forehead.

The skin there was scarred.

"Sorry we worried you."

Her scientist said with a soft tone as she nosed cautiously at his scarred forehead, how did he get hurt like this? Chopin looked at Blues then at Auto and saw that they lacked any visible scarring though they did smell different. They smelt of fresh oil and polished metal.

"Thank you for looking after Chopin Mister Kitamura."

The robot boy thanked their neighbor who just kindly dismissed him with a friendly wave of the hand, clearly he did not need to be thanked for just helping out a neighbor.

The cat in question eventually stopped nosing at Dr Light's scarred forehead and leapt from his grasp onto Auto's stomach hatch, the green robot mechanic cried out and tried to shake her off but Chopin was relentless in her scaling of his body until she contently settled onto his shoulder.

The two others in their family chuckled quietly as they began heading towards their home right next door, Chopin had missed home a lot - the familiar spots and smells - and she could tell her family shared her sentiment.

"It’s good to be home again, no more staring and no more trains!"

Auto sighed heavily once they reached their front door and Dr Light fished out his house keys, next to him Blues shuddered silently at the mention of trains and Chopin flicked her tail in concern.

"I fully agree...oh dear..."

When her scientist let their front door swing open they were all met with a discomforting sight, the living room and kitchen area were an absolute mess. Chopin jumped down onto the wooden floor and looked around for a closer inspection.

The living room was a cluttered mess of shattered potted plants which had fallen from their windowsills and were now strewn onto the floor, paintings that once hung on walls now laid on the floor with their frames either cracked or broken, the glass of the patio doors were cracked in multiple places.

The kitchen was no better, the small TV was knocked over and broken flat on the floor along with shattered remains of plates and glasses that had tumbled out of opened kitchen cabinets, chairs laid knocked over and the window behind where the TV used to stand was cracked in multiple spots along the frame.

Chopin flicked her tail in confusion at this grand mess all around her then gazed up at her scientist for some sort of clarification.

"I was afraid of this, seems the planetary earthquake was more violent here in Japan than in the states."

Dr Light sighed and walked inside as well followed closely by Blues and Auto, the two robots shared Chopin's confusion but looked more worn out than anything else.

"But we just got back home..."

Auto whined and hung his head, Blues placed his suitcase down onto the floor and gave the mess around them a once over as well before sighing in exasperation. Chopin did recall how the world had rumbled violently for a brief moment a week ago, her caretaker's potted plants had laid all across the floor.

"No use complaining son, we best just start cleaning up now - I don’t want to risk Chopin accidentally hurting herself on all the glass shards."

Blues stated and briskly walked away to fetch the cleaning appliances, Chopin watched him with leave with an offended look on her furry face. Did the robot boy think she was a dumb house cat who ate broken glass?! Insolent boy!

"True true...I’ll clean upstairs."

Auto held his own suitcase but also grabbed Blues' and Dr Light's suitcases as well then traversed up the stairs which left Dr Light and Chopin with little to do but head towards the lab to see how bad the mess was in there.

"The planetary earthquake really startled me but I bet you didn’t give it much thought."

Chopin meowed in response to her scientist's lighthearted comment, it had been a surprise as she recalled but nothing more than that - it had really scared her caretaker though. Dr Light chuckled and stopped by his lab doors to input his key code, it beeped a little tune then the automatic doors slid open.

Chopin entered the familiar lab first to see a mess almost worse than the ones in the living room and the kitchen. Dr Light's desk was laying flat on its side on the floor, blueprints and documents laid scattered around it like a rug while the gramophone that usually sat on it laid broken on the floor. The window next to Dr Light's desk was relatively unharmed save for a few cracks here and there. The lab table was thankfully bolted into the floor likewise with the electronic equipment mounted on the walls so that side of the lab was unharmed but the right side was a disaster, the bookcase next to the doorway laid flat on the floor and all the mechanical parts laid scattered across the floor.

"I expected no less."

Dr Light sighed heavily as he carefully lifted up his desk and placed it back by the wall, it’s legs did not wobble so that was a small mercy, then he began scooping up all the blueprints and documents.

Chopin sniffed the papers curiously and pawed at a peculiar set of blueprints, the words and numbers were utter gibberish to her but the humanoid figures on each of the blueprints looked somewhat similar. Gently the papers were pulled away from her and Dr Light gazed fondly at them.

"I see you’ve found DLN-00A and DLN-00B, a while back the Chronos Institute of Time-Space Research and the Oki-Yaku oilfield approached me about collaborations once they caught wind of Blues' existence."

Dr Light rolled up the two blueprints then reached for a drawer on his desk, Chopin recognized the drawer he was opening up as the scientist's personal drawer where he kept his secrets, placing the blueprints inside the drawer was then closed and locked once more.

"I haven’t told Blues about them yet, since their construction will be far more complicated than his, but I’m sure he’ll be overjoyed to have two little brothers to spend time with once I do tell him."

Chopin jumped up onto the desk and Dr Light stroked her head fondly as he spoke on, the cat understood that whatever was on those papers was going to make the robot boy happy.

"Keep this a secret until then, if you would."

She blinked then purred in response, keeping a secret in order to ensure Blues' happiness? Need her scientist even ask?

Dr Light smiled, satisfied at her answer, then began collecting scattered bolts and wires. Chopin watched him for a little bit from her place on his desk but soon grew bored and jumped down onto the floor then slipped out of the lab, her ears twitched when she heard the distant grumble of Blues from the front of the house and she followed his voice to find him lifting up the broken TV in the kitchen.

"We’ll have to buy a new TV too..."

With a sigh he placed it back onto its usual spot, the table was covered in a miniature mount of glass and plate shards, looking around Blues determined that the kitchen was as clean as it could get for now and made to head over to the next mess when he felt a familiar warmth brush against his leg.

Chopin gazed up at him and she could see the clear tiredness in his hazel eyes but once he looked down as well his gaze softened somewhat, he crouched down and allowed her to take her usual perch on his shoulder.

"What a mess huh? So much will have to be replaced and repaired."

Blues commented once he resumed his trek over to the living room, Chopin looked around at everything that was broken and hissed quietly. The robot boy hummed in agreement and gently grabbed the cat then placed her onto the couch.

"Stay here for a bit, I need to vacuum up the dirt from the plants, wouldn’t want to accidentally vacuum you up."

Chopin narrowed her green eyes but complied to his reasoning and got herself comfortable on the couch, it was warm and soft anyway so she was not complaining too much. Blues left her field of vision though quickly returned with that annoying contraption called a vacuum, it smelled bad and was too loud in Chopin's opinion.

"You would’ve loved Larssonville Chopin, lots of open space and plenty of nature. It was so peaceful and quiet that it almost felt unreal, dad's family were real nice too and they had pets too though theirs were robotic but still."

Blues spoke over the rumble of the vacuum as it sucked up all the dirt and dust, Chopin had heard of this Larssonville before but never been there in person - her scientist always had this nostalgic look in his eye whenever he mentioned this place.

"Cat would’ve loved it but it sure wasn’t a robot friendly place."

Chopin flicked her tail when Auto's voice entered their conversation, the green robot mechanic carried a plastic bag filled to the brim with junk that he placed next to the front door.

"Yeah, that’s a downside but when Aki and I went into town the store clerk in the electronic store did say that they would get E-tanks soon. So maybe it’ll be more bearable when we visit for Christmas!"

Blues spoke optimistically to his son who began to help clean up the living room, Chopin tilted her head at that strange word Blues had said. What was an E-tank? She’d heard the word countless times but never really gotten an answer.

"Hopefully, though I do hate to change the subject. You going to talk to gramps about your ideas?"

Blues winced at his son's words and dread washed over his face, the vacuum grew silent and he sighed then sat down next to Chopin.

"Yes, I’m still going to do it...after we’ve made the house look a bit more decent that is."

Auto who was picking up a fallen painting quirked a brow then chuckled, Chopin grew confused at this and looked to the robot boy for some clarification. Blues saw her confusion and just stroked her head comfortingly with a soft smile.

"Good, then afterwards we’re going to build a treehouse in the backyard!"

This time Blues quirked a brow at his son who just laughed with gusto then swept his hand towards the patio doors.

"Why the confused look? Every superhero needs a base of operations after all!"

A look of realization dawned on Blues' face and he chortled in response before nodding in silent agreement, Chopin curled up and closed her eyes with a quiet purr of delight as Blues gently scratched her behind the ear - just the way she liked it.

She fell asleep, very happy to finally have her family home once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So by the time I post this chapter a new series connected to this series has been created, Mega Man Unmixed! At first I had no plans of creating a series like it but eventually I felt it was kinda needed because...well, Mega Man Mixing is going to change.
> 
> I did not make this choice on a whim and I was not entirely happy with it either but I knew it was the right choice to make, MMM is getting slightly rebooted. It might sound scary but don’t fear, I’m doing this because I feel a lot of the stories I’ve posted in MMM does not hold up both quality and story wise now that I’ve decided to post the stories in chronological order.
> 
> All stories except for "Night of the living Blues" and obviously "Prototype" are being booted over to Mega Man Unmixed, I did not even have the heart to consider just deleting them so they are being put there as "non canon" so they can still be enjoyed and read. Don’t fear though! Revamped versions of these stories will be posted as we get to them in the timeline.
> 
> That’s all for really big announcements, a minor announcement would be that I’ve updated all the chapters prior to this one with either better grammar or slight terminology changes like CBU instead of computer brain unit and adding in the name of Dr Light's (fictional) hometown.


	16. His greatest failure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This choice would one day come back to haunt him, his greatest failure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chopin the Cat belongs to me.
> 
> This chapter picks up right where the last chapter left off and now we follow Blues, originally chapter 15 and this chapter were going to be one whole chapter from Blues' perspective but I didn’t feel like writing a long chapter again so soon.

Blues kept scratching Chopin’s ear despite her having already fallen asleep, he’d really missed her a lot and judging by her reaction when they’d come to retrieve her she’d missed them terribly. It made the smile on the robot boy’s lips vane somewhat, this whole trip overseas had definitely turned into a colossal disaster by the end of it.

Though there was no one to really blame for it all, the train derailment and subsequent crash was an unfortunate accident that no one could’ve predicted.

'Enough of that now, get back to work.'

Blues chided himself and though reluctantly left Chopin's sleeping side then returned to vacuuming up the dirt and dust of the floor, while he worked the robot boy wondered how much the costs for repairing the damaged windows and replacing everything broken would accumulate to.

'Probably a lot...though perhaps the secondhand store downtown could cut some of those costs down, I did spot some nice looking paintings there a while back...'

Carefully Blues picked up a broken picture frame from the floor and vacuumed up the pieces of glass that detached from it, behind him Auto slowly lifted up the fallen bookcase and got it standing up again. Books laid scattered on the floor and a few display pieces had broken.

"Hey pops, what’s a vasa...Vasa...?"

Auto inquired with some difficulties as he picked up the biggest of the display pieces, a dark wooden box with a see through lid that showed pretty identical medals. All of the medals, bronze in color, had foreign text inscribed on it including this strange word.

"Let me see that."

Blues took the box from his son’s hands and studied the medals carefully before he understood what was causing such difficulty.

"It’s Swedish, _Vasaloppet_ pretty much translates to the Vasa race. These medals show that dad has participated many times. The race is a ski race held in Sweden during wintertime that is 90 kilometers from the starting point of Sälen in Dalarna County to the finish line in Mora which is also in Dalarna County."

Auto nodded in understanding and took the box back then placed it on its rightful place in the bookcase, though it did strike the green robot mechanic as odd - wasn’t his gramps American?

Blues returned to finishing up his vacuuming and then began gathering up the trash bags, thankfully for them they’d arrived before trash pickup was due to come by so disposing of the trash would happen quickly.

The hours ticked by and Blues could not help this sense of nervousness creeping into his core, there would soon be no excuses left to distract himself from talking to his dad. He wasn’t backing out by no means but still...

Walking upstairs and entering his bedroom to find it already cleaned up the robot boy sprawled himself out on his bed with a sigh, limply his hand brushed against the handle of his suitcase that stood by his bed. It was a miracle really that their suitcases had survived the train accident, though Dr Light himself had built their suitcases so they were probably far more durable than store bought ones.

"Get a grip, if you don’t do it now then when will you?"

The robot boy tried to encourage himself then sat up and pulled up his suitcase into his lap, pulling the zippers aside the lid was pushed back to reveal neatly folded clothes and personal items. Blues dug around until his fingers brushed across the soft fabric of his yellow scarf and he pulled it out to see it completely unharmed.

Wrapping the comforting article around his neck Blues then dug around for his sketchbook, he had numerous ideas and sketches by now of his battle armor. Flipping through the pages he saw grey and blue sketches but also some other color variations like yellow to match his scarf.

The robot boy walked out of his room and down the stairs then turned a sharp right towards the hallway leading to Dr Light's lab, this was it, the moment of truth.

With trembling fingers Blues input his key code and the lab doors slid aside, his dad’s voice filtered through his audio receptors and the scientist sounded both apprehensive but also happy.

"Pedro, are you sure it’s a wise choice?"

Dr Light held his cellphone to his ear and a worried smile decorated his bearded face, blue eyes glanced up and a meager wave was offered as Blues entered the lab - clearly he’d walked in on an ongoing conversation.

"Just...be careful my friend, if just holding it did...y'know then maybe extra safety measures are in order. If there is anything I can do to help then all you need to do is ask, though I have to see bye for now - Blues seems to want my attention. Take care Pedro."

Placing the cellphone down Dr Light sighed then turned his full attention onto his fidgeting son, the robot boy grasped at the edges of his scarf with his fingers and his hazel eyes darted around.

'Calm down, just say it like you practiced...you can do this.'

Blues took a calming breath then cleared his throat and finally looked his dad in the eye, the scientist patiently waited for him to speak his piece.

"Dad, when you activated me I didn’t really know anything about the world around me or even myself. I fear I might’ve even been naive in the beginning but now I’ve been through so much in just less than three months."

Blues began to speak, his thoughts raced with those early memories of his earliest days - he hadn’t know anything about his family nor about the nature of humanity. Despite having preprogrammed knowledge Blues had been unknowing of everything, but not anymore.

"I’ve traveled across the oceans and seen that there was more to our world than just this home we share, I’ve met people like you who have so much brilliance to share in our world of robotics and I’ve experienced being treated both as a person but also as an object. All of these experiences have enriched me, but not all of it for the better."

Dr Light quietly pulled out another chair so his son could sit down as he spoke, the scientist could now guess this was going to take a while.

"I’ve been informed about the cruelty humans direct towards their own and I’ve seen the scars that cruelty caused, I’ve had my view on both myself as an independent being and the bond I have with you shaken."

Blues held his sketchbook tighter, memories of their brief time in Larssonville flashed in his mind - his interactions with his teen cousins and the talks he'd had with their parents and the warmth his grandmother welcomed him with.

"I know you are my creator, in the eyes of the law you are my owner even, and I know you programmed me with certain things like my personality and...obedience right?"

Dr Light flinched at the uttering of being Blues' owner, it was true though so he couldn’t really deny it in earnest, but when Blues said obedience he frowned deeply.

"Son, what is this about?"

Blues glanced down at his sketchbook and knew that it was time, no more rambling to tiptoe around the main subject.

"I mentioned obedience because what I am really here to discuss is something I know goes against your personal beliefs, I want to explore the notion of being more than just your son."

Blues held out his sketchbook for his dad to take and Dr Light began to flip through the pages, his frown turned into a slight smile at the early pages but soon that smile tightened into a thin line and his brow furrowed.

"Son, this is battle armor, why have you been sketching this?"

Dr Light's voice wavered as he spoke and he kept his gaze firmly onto the papers, Blues licked his lips and pressed on.

"Because I want to do something worthwhile with my existence, just doing chores and errands around the house feels like a complete waste of what I am. If you just need a maid then build a domestic helper robot, but I want more out of my existence. I want to make a difference, you might not remember much of it but during the Apollo Railstar tragedy I could do what the humans struggled with."

Dr Light kept flipping through the sketches and ideas Blues had penned on the papers, the scientist did not speak up so Blues kept going.

"I have strength that is above the average human and I am far more durable than the average human but I am not in any way indestructible or untouchable. That’s why I had to find some way of explaining myself to you, hence why it took this long to bring this up."

The robot boy clenched his fists in determination and stared at his dad with a fire burning in his hazel eyes, Dr Light met his gaze with an expression that was unreadable then his sketchbook was returned to him.

"I did not build you for the purpose of combat or anything like it, do you fully understand what you’re asking of me?"

The scientist spoke with a hard tone of voice and kept a sharp stare fixated upon his son, his blue eyes had a fire burning within them as well however these flames burned with another sort of intensity compared to Blues'.

"I’m asking you to alter my structure and the way my body functions in order to make it compatible with weaponry, I know you are against violence dad but I want to use my hands for good - I want to use them to avert disasters like the Apollo Railstar tragedy. I want to make a good difference in the world."

Blues thought of his hero, Astro Boy, and the encouragement he’d received from the hallucination of him. His hero was an adamant lover of peace for all, robots and humans, if he could help create even a sliver of a world like that then he at least wanted to try.

"That’s admirable son and I fully agree that making a good difference is important but I must ask, why?"

Dr Light's voice once more trembled but he kept his face firm, any flash of emotion in his eyes were brief.

"Why you ask? I just said why, I want to make a difference. I want to use the hands you built for me to make a better future for our family, for anyone that might need help, I don’t want anyone in our family to experience the humiliation of being treated like luggage and I don’t want anyone in our family to feel unsafe amongst their fellow humans. That’s what I want yet here I am doing nothing of worth, so let me ask you: why? Why build me if I was just going to do chores?"

Father and son stared at each other for a tense second, neither barely even blinked before Dr Light sighed deeply then stood up with a somber emotion washing away that fire in his eyes.

"Your heart and soul are kind my boy, that fire in your eyes make me proud. Why I built you you ask? That’s a difficult question to answer, I’m not quite sure why and have never truly given it much thought but I am happy all the same to have you here in my life Blues."

Gently the scientist's hand cupped Blues' cheek, hazel eyes softened somewhat with the sparkle of hope.

"But I want to keep you in my life Blues, so the answer is no. I cannot permit this desire of yours no matter how noble your intentions are."

The sparkles of hope in Blues' eyes died out as fast as a sinking rock, Dr Light felt a twinge of remorse when he saw that look of betrayal ghost across Blues' face before his son masked it with stoicism. The robot boy said nothing in response and just stared for a good long while before rising to his feet still without saying anything, Blues pushed his dad’s hand away from his face and walked towards the lab doors.

Dr Light did nothing to stop his son from leaving the lab, quietly he slumped down in his desk chair and sighed.

'He'll understand in time that this was the right choice.'

Blues bounded up the stairs then walked past his bedroom to enter Auto's room, his son was tinkering with something on the floor when Blues entered. The green robot mechanic looked up with an excited air around him but immediately turned solemn when he saw the hurt on his father’s face.

Blues sat down next to Auto on the floor and leaned into his waiting sideways hug, quietly he whispered.

"Dad said I’m as human as modern robotics could allow, so why then...can’t I at least cry when I feel sad?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re two chapters away from the end.


	17. Where their paths split off forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blues and Dr Light head to Shinjuku, Dr LaLinde's Robot Masters are finished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chopin the cat belongs to me.
> 
> Holy cannoli, nearly 6000 words! This chapter is the longest thing I’ve ever written and boy am I happy about it, I’ve been waiting eagerly to write this chapter ever since chapter 1.

The colors of the leaves were starting to shift from green to the fiery hues of autumn and a chillier wind had begun to blow across Tokyo, and the Light household was no different. Over a month had passed since Blues had presented his sketchbook to Dr Light and things were...alright?

The robot boy in question was currently sitting high up in the cozy treehouse built into the big tree in their backyard, wearing his yellow scarf wrapped around the neck and a warm red colored sweater to block out the cold, he was reading a book leisurely in the comfort of a beanbag.

Chopin was by his side as well, she played with a few leaves that Blues had collected for her.

"Hey pops!"

Blues perked up when the sound of Auto's voice reached his audio receptors, putting his bookmark inside then closing the book, the robot boy walked over to the floor door and pulled it up to see his son peering up the tree.

"Thought you’d be up there, gramps wants to talk to us about something."

Blues quirked his brow at this but nevertheless climbed down the ladder with Chopin perched on his shoulder, the robot boy wondered what the scientist wanted - was there an upcoming project he needed to focus on?

Father and son walked inside their home where the cozy warmth enveloped their cold bodies, being made of metal and all, Chopin took off from Blues' shoulder and got herself comfy on the plush couch. Sitting by the kitchen table was Dr Light, wearing a knitted sweater and sipping a steam cup of hot cocoa.

"Good you boys are here!"

Dr Light smiled at the two robots warmly as they took their seats by the table, Blues spotted next to the scientist said scientist's cellphone. Dr Light usually did not have his cellphone out while seated, Dr Light caught Blues' inquisitive look and chuckled.

"I’ll cut right to the chase, Noelle just messaged me that her girls are finished and ready to be activated. She did offer to have us there when they woke up, if either of you are interested of course."

Blues could vividly recall the photo Dr LaLinde had shown him of her two unfinished Robot Masters, they had not even looked humanoid back then but now they were finished. A flutter danced in his core at the thought, two more robots like him...

"Of course! When do we leave? Will we drive there?"

Blues asked eagerly and Dr Light smiled heartily in response before checking his cellphone once more.

"We can leave as soon as we are all ready and taking a train to Shinjuku would be the easiest option."

Blues' enthusiasm sobered up a bit then he and Auto shared a glance, the green robot mechanic had his arms crossed and his eyebrows were furrowed considerably.

"Sorry gramps, but I’ll have to sit this one out. I’ve had enough of trains for an entire lifetime."

No one could really blame Auto for feeling this way, getting on a train did not feel so enticing after one has survived the Apollo Railstar tragedy.

"I understand fully, what about you Blues?"

The robot boy in question thought long and hard about it before voicing his choice.

"I still want to go."

Dr Light nodded then began typing something on his cellphone, a response to Dr LaLinde to let her know they were coming. While the scientist did that Blues and Auto went upstairs quickly, father and son stumbled into Blues' room.

Blues' room was more furnished now than it had been one month ago, his bookcase now had a larger collection of books and a single decorative snow globe that on the interior bore the image of a small snowy street - a gift from Dr Albert after they’d returned home from America - and the snow globe also doubled as a music box. Next to his bookcase was a desk primarily filled with art supplies and hanging above it was a cork board with a select few papers pinned on it.

"Nervous pops?"

Auto asked teasingly as he very carefully took a seat on Blues' bed, under his weight it creaked and groaned loudly but still held, Blues grunted in response while rummaging through his closet.

"Today is very special so I should dress appropriately, the usual is too casual. I need something more impressive."

The robot boy muttered, he did not want to dress too fancy otherwise it might look tacky but dressing too relaxed might make him look sloppy plus there was color coordination to consider as well.

"Oho, hoping to impress the girls?~"

Auto snickered with a slight mocking purr, if he had a face to could fully express emotion then he probably would’ve been making kissy faces right about now. Blues blushed at the implications and did not answer.

The robot boy thought about what type of style he was going for and settled on simple but stylish, taking a red dress shirt and then giving it a once over before placing it onto his bed and then taking out a matching pair of black dress pants and black vest. The hardest choice though was choosing between either going with his yellow scarf or picking a tie or going without.

"I think you should go without, the yellow of the scarf clashes too much with the deep red and the black and a tie would make you look like you’re getting ready for a business meeting."

Auto advised while Blues mused to himself out loud, the robot boy agreed with the other’s point and closed his closet then began to change into his chosen attire. Once Blues was done he took a good look in the full body mirror, he looked...pretty nice.

"The ladies will love you."

Auto laughed, he kept laughing despite having Blues' sweater thrown at his face. The robot boy huffed very flustered, he was just hoping to make a good first impression and nothing more thank you very much!

Dr Light peeked into the room and snickered quietly at how his son was dressed, he was certainly looking far fancier than the scientist had ever seen him dressed before.

"Ready to go?"

Blues nodded hastily and marched out while Auto followed close behind still snickering loudly, Chopin met them halfway at the stairs and Blues picked her up to hug her goodbye for now. In his arms she purred and snuggled happily.

"We’re going away for a little bit but we’ll be back before dinner, I promise, be good until then Chopin."

The cat meowed in response and jumped out of Blues' hold to affectionately rub against Dr Light's legs, quietly the robot boy tied his shoes while Dr Light put his coat on and once the front door was opened the chilly September air rushed into the warm home. Blues held the door open and began to close it once Dr Light had passed him by.

"See you soon."

Blues said with a smile, Auto waved and Chopin watched him with a tilted head, then he closed the front door shut with a click.

Turning away Blues sighed then fell into step with Dr Light as they walked down quietly in the neighborhood, it was cold in the air and they both wondered if the snow would come earlier than expected. A few people were scattered here and there in the park as they passed through, Blues saw a few people from their neighborhood like Mister Kitamura seated on a bench reading a book.

The walk to the train station was fairly uneventful, for Blues it was slightly interesting since he’d never been to their local train station before. The train station was bustling with loud sounds and people rushing around to catch their trains, the robot boy winced lightly at all the commotion around them and made sure to stick closely to Dr Light.

Once they’d made it onto their train Blues found them seats on the left side, when they got seated Blues could not help how his hands trembled slightly - he begged for this to not end up as the Apollo Railstar did.

The screams...the blood...

Blues shook his head and looked out the window to distract himself from the horrid memories that tried to creep up on him, just breathe and be calm...

**************

When they disembarked from Shinjuku train station Blues let out a sigh of relief, the city around them was pretty similar to Tokyo and he could even spot the familiar sight of Mt. Fuji amidst all the skyscrapers. Dr Light looked around for a taxi and then pulled Blues along once he caught sight of one.

Human and robot squeezed into the backseat of the taxi, Blues found it a bit uncomfortable, while Dr Light informed the driver of where they were headed. The robot boy gazed out the window and saw people moving about in a blur, he did not catch sight of any robots but they were most likely working indoors.

"What kind of work does Miss LaLinde do?"

Blues eventually questioned as the city was slowly left behind them, outside of the city was plains of grass and trees scattered throughout.

"She works in the geological field, studies the ground we walk upon and whatever lies hidden underneath. A geologist studies rocks and the movements in the Earth's crust."

Dr Light explained in simple terms as their taxi split off from the main highway, Blues hummed in understanding- he’d never given the ground under his feet much thought let alone wanted to study it.

"Ah, we’re here."

Blues looked out the window again to see a big dome shaped house surrounded by an area of no grass, waiting by the front door of the dome shaped house was Dr LaLinde herself wearing her white lab coat.

Scientist and robot disembarked from their taxi that quickly drove off then they happily greeted Dr LaLinde, Dr Light happily shook her hand and when she turned to Blues she chuckled then pinched his cheek.

"Aren’t you looking handsome?"

Her voice bore a teasing edge and the robot boy could not help but muttered something incomprehensible under his breath while blushing vibrantly.

"I’m glad you both got here so fast, they are just about to wake up."

Dr LaLinde quickly ushered them both into her home and into her lab before Blues really had the time to take in the interior, but little of that mattered on he caught sight of the two still firms laying on two lab tables.

The girl on the left had bubblegum pink hair that reached down to her shoulder blades, on the left side of her head was a white dome shaped device with a small microphone attached to it and on the right side was an identical dome shaped device but this on had an attachment that pointed up like an antenna. Her skin was a slight tan color. She wore a long sleeved burgundy dress that reached down to her knees, above this dress she wore a white puffy vest with pockets, the hem of the dress was lined with black faux fur likewise with the ends of the sleeves. On her hands were white gloves and on her legs were tan colored tights, her feet bore maroon colored boots with wheels on each side.

The girl on the right had long chocolate brown hair tied up into two flowing twin tails that flowed out from two holes in her helmet, her helmet covered most of her head though her fringe poked out from the front and was green in color. Her skin color was slightly paler than her sister’s. Unlike her sister she wore armor in the colors of green, purple and white. Her forearms were black in color and where her hands should’ve been were those menacing looking drills that Blues had seen before, her midsection bore no armor and was colored black likewise with her thighs down to her kneecaps.

"May I introduce LMN-000 and LMN-001, Report Woman and Quake Woman."

Dr LaLinde proudly announced to her guests as they took in the complete stares of her two daughters, she looked very proud of herself Blues noted. Dr LaLinde went over to her computer and seemed to smile even broader than before.

The reason for her increased enthusiasm was soon made apparent once the first of the girls began to stir and twitch, Report Woman groaned then opened her eyes to reveal their vibrant blue hue. Slowly she looked around at her surroundings as her mother helped her into a sitting position.

"Welcome to the world of the living my dear, I’m your mother Doctor Noelle LaLinde."

Report Woman gave her mother a once over before quickly setting her sights onto Blues and Dr Light, the robot boy could not help the sudden chill that began creeping up his spine when the reporter Robot Master studied him from head to toe.

"Who are they?"

Report Woman asked with a curious tone as she began to try and move off of the lab table, her movements were sluggish and Blues could vividly recall how he’d experienced that same type of sluggishness when he’d begun to move for the first time.

"I think it’s best to save the introduction for after your twin sister wakes up Plum."

Blues quirked his eyebrows at the name Dr LaLinde used, hadn’t she just called her Report Woman?

Speaking of the other Robot Master, she too had begun to stir and move in twitchy motions. Her eyes opened up to reveal spring green eyes, those eyes locked onto Blues' hazel ones and for a moment he felt a flutter unlike any other he’d ever experienced before deep within his core.

"Good to see you awake Quake Woman, how are you feeling?"

Quake Woman broke her eye contact with Blues to notice her mother’s presence by her side and her older twin sister curiously peeking at her.

"I’m...good, I think."

Quake Woman's voice was more mellow compared to Report Woman's more clearer and louder tone, the geological Robot Master was less sluggish than her sister but her movements were more clunky due to her lack of hands.

"That makes me very happy, now then it’s time for introductions. You both probably already now this but I’m Doctor Noelle LaLinde and these two are friends of mine, this is Doctor Thomas Light and his robot son Blues. Thomas, Blues, these two here are Plum and Tempo LaLinde."

Dr Light pleasantly greeted the two Robot Masters and Blues waved equally pleasantly, Plum enthusiastically greeted them both as she shakily planted her feet on the floor - the wheels on her boots seemed to not bother her balance in the slightest.

"Mother...how do I...?"

Tempo held up her two drills with a frown and a furrowed brow, it was clear that she found moving around with them extremely cumbersome, Dr LaLinde took out a roll of blueprints that she showed to her daughter and gestures at them slowly until Tempo understood.

The geological Robot Master concentrated until the two drills retracted into her arms and a pair of white colored hands took their place, Tempo flexed her fingers in amazement then she too hauled herself into a standing position on the floor.

"So...what do you do?"

Blues almost jumped out of his synthetic skin when he suddenly found a black microphone shoved into his face and those piercing blue eyes boring into him like how a predator gazed upon their chosen prey.

"I um...I do chores around the house?"

Blues stuttered while Plum hummed with a bored look on her face, the microphone was taken away from his face and was placed in the middle of Plum's right palm then it retracted into her hand via a circular hole that then promptly closed that Blues hadn’t noticed before.

"So are you like Helper Man or something? Caretaker Man?"

The robot boy looked to Dr Light for assistance, the scientist had previously been observing their interaction with a suppressed snort.

"None of those names I’m afraid, Blues is just Blues. He’s not a Robot Master like you and your sister."

Plum seemed content with that answer and walked off to poke around at her mother’s desk, no doubt to try and satisfy an endless amount of curiosity. Tempo watched her older twin with a disapproving look before coming over to Dr Light and Blues as well.

"You two came here specifically for us? Thank you for your presence."

Tempo spoke politely, Blues could almost touch the air of newness around her - both of them in fact, they acted in the same fashion he’d been when he’d only had basic programming to fall back on.

Wow...Blues was starting to feel old, was this what Dr Light felt every day?

"No need to thank us, like your mother I too am a robotics scientist so I was very eager to see how you and your sister turned out."

Gently Dr Light placed his hand on top of Tempo's helmet covered head and a faint blush dusted her cheeks, Tempo was slightly taller than Blues so she nearly stood nose to nose with the scientist.

"But I do believe the most eager of all to meet you both was my son, Blues here has so far been the only Robot Master class robot in the whole world. So he-"

Blues shushed the scientist with a very flustered look on his face, he did not need Dr Light to reveal how existentially lonely he’d been and especially not on the very first meeting! That’s just embarrassing!

"Oh? Do tell us more Doctor, the audience is very eager to hear Blues' tragic backstory!"

Plum slid up to the scientist with her microphone already in hand and a very smug but also cheeky grin on her face, Blues just wanted to be swallowed by the floor at this point. Was this what it was like to be bullied?

"Now now, why don’t you three kids go outside and enjoy the outdoors while Thomas and I discuss boring adult things?"

The three robots replied in a chorus and soon had made their way outside into what Blues assumed was the backyard.

"Hey Blue Boy, what is this thing?"

Blues whirled around to see Plum crouched down by a bush, Blues and Tempo crouched down next to her and saw what she was pointing at. Plum was pointing at a green chunky worm like thing that was nibbling at a nearby leaf.

"That’s a caterpillar, the larva form of moths and butterflies."

Blues informed as they kept staring at the little bug, just like animals bugs did not seem to recognize the presence of robots let alone care.

Tempo made a discomforted frown as she watched it eat, Blues wondered if she was programmed with a dislike for bugs or if she’d developed one independently just now.

"Hey sis, do you think these wheels will make me really fast when running?"

Having already lost interest in the bug Plum stood up and stretched out her legs so she could see her wheels, the wheels did not properly touch the ground she stood on. Tempo gave her sister a disapproving look once more than Plum answered with a smug grin of her own while Blues felt caught in the middle.

**************

Dr Light and Dr LaLinde watched their children in the backyard from a window, both looked very fondly at their creations. They watch Plum begin to sprint off while Tempo stood up to call for her, Dr LaLinde chuckled.

"Look at them, they are already evolving right before our eyes."

She said softly to which her friend nodded in agreement, they saw the reporter Robot Master return into their view but at a much faster speed curtesy of her wheels.

"Indeed, your girls have quite the personalities. I knew they would be different from your own personality but I was not quite expecting this."

Dr Light commented before having to stifle his laughter when Plum tripped and planted her face firmly on the ground, Blues rushed up to help her and offered his hand for her to take while Tempo stood back and just shook her head.

"Nosy, curious and easily bored by the mundane, a perfect fit for a reporter in my opinion. Calm, cautious and polite, a good bearing to have when working in the geological field. These are, however, just the bare basics of their personalities that will in time evolve beyond what I programmed them with, your Blues is the same."

Dr LaLinde rolled her eyes good heartedly, Dr Light scratched the back of his neck with a troubled look in his eyes.

"Yes...might I ask for your counsel?"

Plum was back on her feet and was waving off Blues' concern with a leisure wave, she instead pointed at her sister and began to gesture dramatically at the ground. Tempo responded with something but eventually switched her hands for drills in defeat.

"Of course Thomas, it’s about Blues isn’t it?"

Tempo put the tips of her drills down on the ground and they began to spin slowly until they picked up speed, her drills began to burrow deep into the ground.

"Nothing gets past you my friend, yes it is Blues. I...I feel there has become a divide between us, he no longer calls me dad like he used to and he shuts himself away most of the time after he’s finished the chores, Auto and Chopin have no trouble being near him but I’m...I’m troubled."

A mild tremor was felt under their feet as Tempo kept digging into the ground, her drills were halfway down when she opted to stop. Plum looked disappointed while Blues knelt down to inspect the hole, Tempo kneeled down as well and began pointing at different things.

"It’s all part of the family experience, not every day will be the happiest because there will be fights and disagreements, I have five older siblings so I know a thing or two about these sort of things. Just be patient and talk to him about your thoughts, he strikes me as the kind of boy who’d understand if you just told him straight up what is bothering you."

Dr Light stroked his beard in worry though a small smile ghosted across his lips, his old friend was right - once they returned home to Tokyo he would sit down with Blues and just talk.

"Thank you Noelle, your advice will be most helpful."

Dr LaLinde chuckled while keeping her gaze fixated out the window, though it was cloudy her brown eyes still had a certain sparkle to them.

"Don’t mention it, speaking of family though, have you told Blues about your upcoming plans?"

Plum fiddled with her microphone in a bored manner while Tempo kept talking about whatever they’d found in the hole.

"Not yet...though perhaps now might be the best moment, he’s here and in a good mood. Wish me luck."

Dr LaLinde gave her friend a playful shove as he walked past her towards the backdoor leading to the backyard, when he swung the door open Dr Light was greeted by the chatter of the three robots in front of him.

"Blues? Could I tear you away from these lovely ladies for just a second?"

Blues blushed madly at his teasing words and at Plum's loud snorting, his son quickly marched up to him with a halfhearted glare in his eyes - not a malicious one though, just an embarrassed one.

"Are you getting along well with them?"

Dr Light asked once Blues calmed down from his embarrassment.

"Yeah, they’re nice and fun. I hope I’ll get to see more of them in the future."

The scientist took this as a good sign, he was of course delighted to see his son making friends for the first time but this also meant he might receive these news well.

"I’m glad to hear that, though what I wanted to actually talk about was our family. It’s going to get larger soon, probably not this year but possibly next year if I can manage building them both at the same time."

At first Blues looked clueless towards what Dr Light was talking about but soon it began to dawn on him as his hazel eyes widened and his smile spread from ear to ear.

"You mean...?"

His tone was hopeful and the scientist could only nod with a soft laugh.

"Yes, the Oki-Yaku oilfield and the Chronos Institute of Time-Space Research approached me about collaboration once they caught wind of you. DLN-00A and DLN-00B, Time Man and Oil Man, will be your younger brothers."

It pleased Dr Light to see Blues this happy and excited, he almost wondered if the robot boy would offer to help build his future siblings just so they could join their family faster.

"I can’t wait to become an older brother!"

Blues cheered and Dr Light patted him on the head, it had been a while since he’d gotten a chance to do this.

The scientist glanced up to see the two Robot Masters crouched down by the hole Tempo made and they seemed troubled by something, Blues followed his line of sight and began to explain.

"Plum wanted Tempo to test her abilities so she did but she stopped when her built in Geiger counter began to respond to something, we looked in the hole and saw something shiny at the bottom. It looks like a piece of glass or something, it’s pink in color so perhaps a gem?"

Dr Light's face slowly began to pale as Blues' description of the strange object made him think of something horrid his friend Dr Astil found.

"Tempo! Plum! Get away from that thing this instant!"

The two girls jumped at his yell and looked up in confusion, then the ground below them began to shake and a silvery pink light emitted from the hole. Dr Light grabbed Blues and held him close while Plum and Tempo stumbled to their feet in haste but it was too late.

The tremors increased to an unbearable level and big cracks began to form in the ground, dust bellowed up into clouds, the two Robot Masters close to the hole did not have time to try and run before the ground underneath their feet gave out like a house of cards. Plum and Tempo screamed as they fell into the dark abyss of the underground with only a pink glimmer to show where they’d fallen before it too disappeared.

Dr LaLinde burst out into the backyard in frantic fear as the tremors died down into nothing, the dust began to settle and a gaping hole the size of trailer stood smack dab in her backyard.

"The seismograph in my lab went absolutely bonkers for a good minute! Are you two okay...and where are my girls?!"

Dr Light stood shaken with Blues held tightly in his arms, the robot boy meekly pointed at the gaping hole and Dr LaLinde's face turned a ghostly white in pure terror. Carefully she edged closer to the hole to try and peer into the abyss that had swallowed her daughters.

Blues broke from Dr Light's hold and without hesitation crouched down by the edge, he looked down and his eyes shone green for a brief moment until they switched back to hazel.

"I can’t see them with my night vision, the hole is too deep. Miss LaLinde do you have any rope?"

The Filipino-French scientist gazed at the robot boy for a brief minute before sprinting back into her house, Dr Light felt a heavy stone drop into his stomach and he quickly grabbed his son by the shoulder to pull him away from the hole.

"Blues Light you better not be thinking what I think your thinking! You are not climbing down there, it’s too dangerous! We should call professionals."

He knew his tone was harsh but he would not stand by and let his son get hurt again, not after the Apollo Railstar tragedy, never again. Blues locked eyes with the scientist and the glare his son bore was a very unfamiliar sight.

"If I don’t save them then who will!?"

Blues screamed angrily, the sheer volume of his anger made Dr Light actually take a step back in shock. Never had Blues raised his voice like that, never.

Dr LaLinde came back with a long coil of rope in her arms, Blues nodded a thanks before tying one end around his waist tightly and then instructing the other end to be tied to something very heavy. Dr LaLinde drove her car carefully into the backyard then tied the other end of the rope to the bumper.

"Be careful."

Dr LaLinde warned worriedly as Blues began to slowly climb over the edge, Dr Light just stood there silently watching his only son descend into the black abyss.

**************

Blues climbed further and further down for what felt like an eternity, his night vision doing little to provide sight in the darkness, until his feet finally touched solid ground. The robot boy heaved a sigh of relief once his arms and legs finally could relax for a bit, looking around his eyes first caught sight of a pink prismatic crystal. Blues scowled at the gem before looking around once more until he finally spotted the robots he was looking for.

Tempo's green eyes were glowing in the darkness from where she sat slumped on the ground, Plum laid sprawled out on her lap motionless with her eyes closed.

"Hey, are you two badly damaged?"

Blues voice echoed around them as he approached them, Tempo perked up at his voice and gently shook her sister who groaned weakly before opening her eyes. Judging by the fact that they were both still conscious he at least could hope there were only minor damage.

"Just a few scrapes and dislocated joints, this whatever it is cushioned our fall...I think."

Tempo spoke softly as she gestured at the black thing they were both sitting on, from Blues' perspective it look like some sort of lumpy rock.

"Good then, I’m here to get you two to safety, can you stand?"

Plum was the first to stand, she swayed dangerously on shaky legs but gained some balance back after a bit, and then Tempo limped into a stand next to her sister. Blues got between them both then with an arm around each of them walked back towards the wall.

"You both hold on tightly to me, try to climb alongside me so we don’t put too much pressure on this rope."

The two Robot Masters nodded shakily and Tempo switched her right hand to the drill that she plunged into the wall, Plum reached out with her left hand and gripped onto the wall tightly, Blues gaped dumbly at them for a second before starting to climb with them slowly following his movements.

"Sorry for making you dig sis, wouldn’t have found that stupid earthquake gem if I hadn’t pestered you."

Plum muttered softly while they climbed, the light above them was a fair distance away, like the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Probably would’ve found it later anyway, the radiation it was giving off was akin to that of a nuclear bomb so don’t worry."

Tempo replied with a grunt as the light grew closer a bit at a time, Blues cast a quick glance down to see that crystal once more glowing a silvery pink.

**************

Dr Light sighed heavily once he saw the three robots slowly making their way up, Dr LaLinde knelt down and reached down a hand for them to take. Once they were within reach they stopped climbing and Plum was ushered up first, the two scientists carefully heaved her onto solid ground before once more reaching down to help Tempo up which proved a little harder due to one of her hands being a drill at the moment.

Finally it was just Blues left, the robot boy began climbing up once more so Dr Light and Dr LaLinde could get a better hold on him. Dr Light reached for Blues' hand when he saw a distant shimmer of silvery pink down in the abyss below, the ground began to shake once more as the glow grew brighter.

Dr LaLinde lost her balance and fell backwards into the waiting arms of her daughters while Dr Light could feel the ground underneath him growing looser, desperately he reached for his son’s hand and Blues reached up with fear evident in his hazel eyes.

Their fingers touched...when the rope snapped.

"BLUES!!!"

Dr Light scream of terror was drowned out by the low grumbling of the ground, Blues gazed up at him with his hand still outstretched and fear etched into his face permanently, dust clouds bellowed up and swallowed the falling form of Blues. Blues disappeared into the dark abyss of the underground without even a single scream.

Dr Light was pulled away from the crumbling hole by a firm hand and pulled into the pile of Dr LaLinde and her daughters, in breathless horror they watched the hole crumble shut until only a cloud of dust and a small crater was all that was left.

Dr Light nearly forgot how to breath as he fumbled with his cellphone, scrolling through all the apps until he found the one that could track his robots and opened it with the taste of bile creeping up his throat.

**SEARCHING FOR SIGNAL OF DLN-000...**

The scientist watched the small circle spin for a while, even in a deactivated state robots still gave off a signal as long as their CBU remained intact, as long as Blues was intact then he was alive. As long as Blues was...

**SIGNAL OF DLN-000 NOT FOUND**

Dr Light felt cold, the words on the screen washed over him like a frigid tsunami. Blues' signal could not be found, no signal means death, Blues could not be found, no signal...death, Blues was gone, death, Blues was...

He registered no touch as a gentle hand took his trembling hands that had dropped his cellphone, he registered no sound as two weak voices tried to connect with him and he did not register the feeling of his tears cascading down his face. Blues was...

Through the blurry vision of his tear filled eyes Dr Light saw snowflakes falling down from the sky, the snow touched down on the ground and began coating it in white. Blues was...

Blues was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DLN-000 Blues Light, born in Tokyo, Japan and died in Shinjuku, Japan. (June 30th 1992 - September 25th 1992)
> 
> Did any reader, new and old, truly think that this story would have a happy ending?


	18. Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lingering on the what if’s would not change the reality they now lived in, it would not change the fact that they now lived a new life. A new life that would stay with them until the end of their futures.
> 
> A life without Blues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chopin the Cat, Hedwig Light, Niels Light (mentioned), Johannes "Jo" Light (mentioned) and Akira Light (mentioned) belongs to me.
> 
> Translations for the two non English pieces of dialogue will be at the end of this chapter.

The sky was a dark grey color and it rumbled with lightning as the rain fell heavily upon the Light household, the weather a perfect reflection of the atmosphere inside of those walls. It was like all warmth had suddenly left, it was so cold.

Blues was dead.

It was an irrefutable fact that rang hollow in the empty space that was Dr Light's head, he could not think beyond this knowledge that his only son was dead and gone - they did not even have a body to bury, whether that was for the better or not was debatable.

_Dearest Doctor,_

_We of Oki-Yaku oilfield fully understand the reasons behind why you’ve put our collaboration on hold indefinitely, the loss of a child is no easy pain to bear and we all send our deepest regards. Should you ever wish to resume our collaboration then contact us._

_Sincerest wishes, Oki-Yaku oilfield's president._

The words in the email felt hollow, did they truly mean any of it? Or were they just empty? Dr Light did not possess the will to care anymore, his blue eyes stared tiredly at his computer screen as he opened the next email.

_Dear Doctor Light,_

_The message you forwarded to me made me absolutely speechless, do not apologize for the grief you feel. It is as valid as the joy your son brought into your life. I do not have children myself so I cannot fully understand your pain but that does not mean I’ll still demand a collaboration out of you, push it aside until you’re ready._

_Best wishes, Doctor Shou Kouin._

Had it been under any other circumstances then Dr Light would’ve at least cracked a smile at the sincerity of the doctor's words but now he couldn’t, those words meant nothing to him. They were hollow.

_Thomas my friend,_

_I almost couldn’t believe it when you told me but it is true, isn’t it? There are no words I could say that would lift your spirits and I do not possess the power to bring Blues back to you. I feel powerless. There is little else I can do but offer a shoulder should you ever need it._

_I will pray for you and your family, Doctor Albert W. Weck._

Prayers? Prayers would not bring his son back, prayers would not rewind the clock and prayers would not undo what could not be undone. His friend meant well and his support meant a lot but right now it was pointless, Dr Light was in no state for such things.

_Thomas,_

_I’m sorry for not responding to your message right away, I wasn’t able to write a single word until now. My girls are well and fully repaired though I can see in their eyes that this experience will be with them forever, they send their deepest regrets and apologies for being unable to saveBlues. I too wish I could’ve done something._

_I am so sorry, Doctor Noelle LaLinde._

Must be so nice for her, she has both of her children to hold and cherish while he did not. Venomous jealousy blossomed in his broken heart like a parasitic infection and Dr Light felt sick, his friend did not kill Blues - she was as helpless as he’d been that day.

_My friend,_

_The description of what the children found matches the object I found in the ruins, I wish I could’ve assured you that the crystal in my possession was one of a kind but tragically we now know there are more. These things...Thomas they are a piece of the Devil himself, they are demons in crystalline form. I wish you did not have to experience the same horrors I did._

_My deepest condolences, Doctor Pedro Astil._

Here was someone who partially understood, Dr Light knew the loss he felt was not comparable to his friend's loss but it was some form of understanding. The scientist hoped with all of him that still felt alive that these damn crystals never reappeared in his life.

_My sweetest baby,_

_When we all got the news of Blues' death we all cried, we cried for a life that had barely begun and we cried for you as well. The kids have shut themselves away in their rooms and their parents are doing their best to be there for them, but I can tell Jo and Akira feel just as distressed. And I? My thoughts have only been on you Tommy._

_Call me as fast as you are able._

_Your mother, Hedwig Light._

Dr Light remained at his mother's email for quite a while, just staring quietly. Talking to his mother felt like a good choice, she would understand him and the pain he’s in, but did he have the strength to do so right now?

Dr Light sighed and turned off his computer, reading those emails would probably be the only productive thing he’d do this day since the spark to do any work at all had died. The scientist slumped in his chair and gazed out into nothing, his thoughts were all empty and chaotic at the same time.

Solemnly blue eyes trailed down to the two sets of blueprints he had on his desk, with trembling fingers he took them into his hands and gazed upon the two Robot Masters that decorated the blue papers.

_"I can’t wait to become an older brother!"_

His hands trembled and his eyes grew misty, quickly he rolled Oil Man's and Time Man's blueprints up then stuffed them back into his private drawer. Blinking away the tears gathering in his eyes Dr Light fumbled with his cellphone and punched in his mother’s number, she was most likely asleep by now but he desperately hoped she was still awake.

_"Tommy, how are you holding up?"_

The scientist deflated some once his mother’s somber voice sounded in his ear, her words were hushed and gentle. Just hearing her voice made him feel a bit better, Dr Light's eyes grew misty once more and he quickly rubbed away the oncoming tears.

"It hurts, everywhere I look I just...I see phantoms. I woke up today thinking it had all been a bad dream, I went into his room to check but...his room remained as it was when he left. I...I..."

Dr Light's voice wavered with each word as a sob grew in his throat, Blues' room remained untouched since the robot boy left for Shinjuku with him - his beloved yellow scarf still laid folded on his bed, waiting patiently for Blues to come back.

_"When I got the letter about your brother’s death, I refused to believe it. 'Not my baby, not my baby boy', was all I could think. I grew frantic in my disbelief, do you remember that? Every time there was a knock on the door, every time the phone rang, every time the mail arrived...I hoped to hear from Niels. I hoped to hear his quirky laughter through the phone or read his gossipy letters or see his smiling face by the doorway. To lose a child is to lose a part of yourself, it is a piece of yourself that you’ll never get back."_

Dr Light listened to his mother’s lament and recognized the pain, he had vivid memories of watching his mother getting her hopes up only to have them dashed by the cruel reality that his brother was dead and gone.

"My friends have offered me support and kindness, I should feel thankful for their understanding but instead I feel...anger and jealousy. Why? I don’t want to feel like this."

He shouldn’t feel jealousy towards Dr LaLinde just because her children managed to get saved in time while his had not been, she could’ve lost her girls just as easily. He shouldn’t feel angered by Dr Albert's prayers for his sake, he was offering support and well meaning words.

_"Does it sound anything like this in your head? 'What do they know? They don’t know anything about what I’m going through! Condolences and prayers!? Fancy words that don’t mean anything, they’re just secretly thankful that it wasn’t them - that it wasn’t their child that would never come home again.' Something like that right?"_

To hear his thoughts said out loud felt so off putting, Dr Light clenched his fist and his grip on his cellphone trembled.

"Yes...that sounds about right."

Hedwig hummed on her end and remained quiet for a bit, Dr Light was left to his thoughts and memories until she once more spoke up.

_"Tommy, you’re trying to not cry right? It’s okay, just let it out."_

The scientist hiccuped and finally let his tears flow freely, his blue eyes stung from the overflow of salty tears and his beard grew wet from soaking up the tears. He’d shed tears when Blues got swallowed up by the earth but had not cried since, was he trying to be strong? For whose sake was he trying so hard?

"Mamma, när slutar det göra ont?"

Dr Light spoke in his native language with a shuddering voice laced with despair, it was so much different to not speak in his familiar English tongue - it felt raw and intimate.

_"Aldrig, smärtan följer dig tills döden tar dig."_

The lab was filled with nothing but the grief stricken echo of Dr Light's cries, he cried for the son he’d never see again.

**************

Chopin worriedly paced by the front door, a whole day had passed since Blues left for this place called Shinjuku and he’d promised to come back. He’d promised to return.

_"We’re going away for a little bit but we’ll be back before dinner, I promise, be good until then Chopin."_

So why had the Doctor returned home alone? Why wasn’t Blues by his side? She anxiously listened for every sign of the robot boy approaching the front door but her small body was wracked with disappointment every time no such sign came.

Chopin had felt the negative aura surrounding the Doctor since he returned and she worried on, had there been another accident? Would Blues return after a week or so like last time? Chopin hoped so.

Until he returned she would wait.

The cat nimbly jumped onto the windowsill and gazed out to see the front gate of their home, she could spot shapes moving beyond the gate but none of those shapes was her Blues. Chopin got herself comfortable on the wooden board and kept her gaze firmly out the window, it was raining today - such a dreary weather.

She would wait patiently no matter how long it would take, one day she would spot him opening the front gate and walk towards the front door while whistling that tune of his. One day he would keep his promise of coming home.

'And when you do come back, let’s play and have fun like we always do.'

Chopin mournfully put all of her hopes into that thought, so surely...it might reach Blues and beckon him home from wherever he was.

**************

Auto finished wrapping his creation up in protective cloth and carefully placed it down in the wooden chest, the wooden chest was dark in color with some intricate floral carvings across its body and lid. He’d found it while cleaning the attic yesterday, it was perfect for keeping things stored for later or...forever.

"Guess pops won’t get to see you after all."

The green robot mechanic muttered sadly to himself as he closed the lid and a silent click echoed in his room, he’d worked so hard to finish this creation of his and he’d worked equally hard to keep it a secret from everyone.

His red eyes flickered across his mess of a room, it was more of a makeshift lab of his own than a actual bedroom for sleep. His father had always complained over how messy it was.

_"See you soon."_

He’d been smiling when he closed the front door, he’d promised to be back before dinner, nothing had indicated that something terrible would happen. Nothing had prepared him for a life without his pops.

With heavy steps Auto walked out his room and into Blues' untouched room, the furniture had not been moved an inch from where they stood when Blues had been here, that yellow scarf that was always present around Blues' neck still laid folded on his bed along with the clothes he wore yesterday.

Nothing had been touched or changed yet everything was different, everything was wrong.

Suddenly the room felt cold and empty, Auto hesitantly touched the yellow scarf then let his fingers shakily lift it up. The fabric in his fingers felt cold, it felt dead. Just as dead as it’s owner.

Auto looked around again until his gaze landed on Blues' desk, he knew his pops kept his sketchbooks and his private journal stuffed away in that desk. The green robot mechanic pulled at the drawers and searched for these books until they finally turned up, Auto took them into his hands and cradled them along with the scarf. He looked up and saw the cork board littered with drawings, one after another he took them down and folded them up then stuffed them into the sketchbooks.

Looking to his left he saw the bookcase, filled with miscellaneous books but one object stood out. That snow globe Dr Albert gave his pops once they finally returned home. Auto cautiously took it out of the bookcase and added it to the small pile of items.

Looking to his right he saw the closet still ajar after Blues had forgotten to close it fully when he left, Auto peered inside to see the organized inside filled with clothes. The clothes meant nothing to him but the sunglasses perched on top of the folded jeans did, Blues had bought those sunglasses during their stay in Larssonville.

The sunglasses were the last of the items he took with him out of Blues' room, the items he cradled held dear memories of his father - they were all he had left his father now, memories and objects of sentimental value.

Auto opened up the wooden chest again and placed the snow globe down first.

_"Is it real snow inside?"_

_Auto asked curiously as Blues shook the snow globe, the small flakes of glitter and white whirled around inside of the globe with each shake. Blues stared fascinated upon the pretty little globe in his hands._

_"No, it might be some kind of plastic or something."_

_The robot boy speculated as his fingers lightly turned a small knob on the side of the globe's base, once he let the knob go the small figures inside of the globe began to waltz around inside of the falling flakes of glitter as a very familiar tune began to sound out._

_"Wow, that’s your tune!"_

_Blues snickered at Auto's awe and began to whistle along with the snow globe's tune, the glittering flakes touched down and the figures ceased their dance when the tune faded out._

After the snow globe he placed down the sketchbooks and the private journal he’d not dared to read.

_"Hey pops, who are they?"_

_Auto peered over Blues' shoulder to see his father’s sketches, the paper was decorated with drawings of a boy and a girl in various poses and with different looks but their appearances remained the same._

_The boy looked to be a teen with dark brown hair and cerulean blue eyes while the girl looked to be in the same age range with sunflower blonde hair and spring green eyes._

_"Well I flipped through the photo album dad gave me earlier and I got inspired."_

_Auto glanced at the think leather bound tome then back onto the drawings, the kids on the paper looked rather nice but the list of names had him somewhat confused. Aster and Poppy? London and Sydney? Bach and Hildegard? Rock and Roll?_

_"Thinking of making more robots?"_

_Blues hummed as if he was contemplating what to answer, his soft gaze traced every detail of the drawings he’d made._

_"Perhaps in the future once I’ve gotten more skilled."_

Carefully he placed the sunglasses in next.

_"How about these?"_

_Blues turned away from the mirror to show the newest pair of sunglasses he’d tried, these ones were a simple black pair that covered his hazel eyes fully. They looked much less tacky and silly compared to the star shaped ones he’d tried last as a joke._

_"You look like one of those action movie heroes."_

_Auto sighed, this little shop of trinkets felt cramped for him and his large body. The ever present fear of accidentally knocking down a display or rack made him tense whenever he had to move even the slightest inch._

_"Perfect."_

_Blues grinned in satisfaction and returned to admire his chosen eyewear in the mirror a bit more._

The last to go inside was the yellow scarf, neatly it was folded and laid to rest on top of the wrapped up creation Auto had made.

_"My name is Blues Light and I’m so happy to meet you."_

_The robot boy said with a smile and that strange creature on his shoulder made a noise in response to his voice, Auto tilted his head at the creature and reached out a finger to poke it. The creature nosed at his finger before leaping onto his arm and proceeding to claw its way up onto his shoulder._

_"That’s Chopin, she’s our cat and loves to climb on robots."_

_Chopin made that noise again as if agreeing to what Blues was saying about her, Auto was perplexed by this creature called a cat but decided to leave it be for now in favor of his pops._

_"Is it just us here?"_

_The green robot looked around at the messy lab they stood in, his programmed purpose of being a lab assistant already kicking in and wanting to clean up this mess._

_"No, my dad who built me is still asleep upstairs and there is also my granny all the way back in America. She made this scarf for me."_

_Blues held out the edge of his yellow scarf for Auto to touch, white fingers reached out and felt the warm yellow fabric. The green robot was not sure what a 'granny' was but she seemed nice and skilled if she’d managed to construct this scarf._

_"Maybe she could give you one too."_

_Blues chuckled and grabbed his son’s hand then began directing them towards the exit of the lab, Auto was eager to see what laid beyond the lab._

The lid of the wooden chest was closed once more and Auto rested his hand on top of it silently, all of those memories felt like an eternity ago in a whole different lifetime - which wasn’t too far from the truth, they lived a new life now whether they liked it or not.

Auto gently pushed the wooden chest towards his wall then walked out of his room and down to the kitchen, he needed an E-tank. The green robot mechanic spotted Chopin by the windowsill, she was likely waiting for his pops to come home - poor thing likely didn’t understand that Blues was dead.

Auto decided to leave her alone, Dr Light would probably be better at making her understand than he would.

Taking an E-tank out of the fridge and downing it quickly Auto's gaze lingered at the red and black coffeemaker his pops hated so much, Blues never did manage to brew a drinkable cup of coffee. He almost felt the urge to laugh at all the memories of his father cursing the kitchen appliance.

That feeling of wanting to laugh soon turned into a want for tears, tears Auto could not shed. He at least knew of a way to pretend, turning on the kitchen sink he cupped his hands full of water and threw it at his face.

The water dribbled down his face like real tears would, this was his only way to cry.

"If I’d not been such a coward and gone with you, would pops still be here with us? Could I have saved him?"

Auto's flickering red eyes stared down into the kitchen sink while his shuddering voice rang out into the kitchen, a warm hand touched his arm but he did not need look up to know it was Dr Light who was looking upon him with puffy eyes filled with guilt and despair.

Lingering on the what if’s would not change the reality they now lived in, it would not change the fact that they now lived a new life. A new life that would stay with them until the end of their futures.

A life without Blues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation notes:  
> Swedish: "Mamma? När slutar det göra ont?"  
> English: "Mother? When does it stop hurting?"
> 
> Swedish: "Aldrig, smärtan följer dig tills döden tar dig."  
> English: "Never, the pain will follow you until death takes you."
> 
> We’ve reached the end of this long journey, "Prototype" is now over and I must thank everyone who’ve taken time out of their days to read this story, thank you. 
> 
> This story has been very important to me, it has carried me through very rough times and it has carried me through the process of rebooting MMM. "Prototype" has certainly gone through its fair share of changes like:  
> how I originally intended it to be a slice of life story but I quickly realized I had no clue how to properly write a story structured like that without it being boring (evidence of this early idea can be found if one compares the two first chapters to the chapters that come after them.)  
> How I introduced Auto into this story, while I was writing chapters 2 & 3 I knew that Auto had to be in here but the original idea was that Blues would find him abandoned which did not end up happening hence him being Blues' son instead. (Check out "Out in the rain" in MMU if you want to read the original idea.)  
> The whole thing with the reboot had me going back through this story and changing mostly authors notes to make it more in line with the reboot.
> 
> This story...is not perfect, I feel I could’ve possibly handled the A.R.T.S expo better, but at the end of the day all the important story threads that I planned from the very start got done well and we will follow them through the course of MMM's future. Those threads are: Blues' relationship with Dr Light changing over time, Blues' relationship with Chopin, Blues' experience of the A.R.T.S expo, Blues' interactions with his human family at the Light family farm, the crash of the Apollo Railstar, the divide between Blues and Dr Light, and finally Blues' death. Without these threads "Prototype" would not exist.
> 
> That’s all I have to say about this story, sorry if it got a bit rambly. 
> 
> Want to see a future, that can sadly never exist in MMM canon, where Blues did not die? Check out "Familial bliss" in MMU, a story I wrote alongside this chapter and posted before posting this chapter.
> 
> Now what does next week hold? Next week we travel back in time to early August of 1992 and attempt to uncover the mysteries of this planetary earthquake we’ve heard about along with these strange crystals Dr Pedro Astil talked about.


End file.
